"Though it is spicy, its flavor is much more layered and complex than common hot sauces like Tabasco, which taste of heat and vinegar. It’s also far thicker, with a consistency more similar to ketchup or tomato sauce than watery American-style hot sauces, which are typically made by puréeing peppers in vinegar, then straining out the solid materials.
The recipe for sriracha was developed more than 80 years ago in Si Racha, a city on Thailand’s east coast. The first commercial variety, Sriraja Panich, became one of the most popular condiments in Southeast Asia, but it was not easy to find in America and was very expensive to import.
In 1980, a Vietnamese immigrant named David Tran decided to start producing his own version of sriracha in America, opening Huy Fong Foods in Irwindale, California. To this day it remains the most popular brand of sriracha, and its packaging is nothing short of iconic: a clear plastic bottle that shows off the vividly red hot sauce, a green twist-to-open squirt cap and a white rooster logo printed on the front that gives Huy Fong Sriracha its nickname, “Rooster Sauce.”
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