THE ORIGINAL THAI KITCHEN Yes, it’s confusing. The Rooster is Thailand ** everywhere. But Rooster Sauce is NOT Simple and smooth, the original Sriracha Sauce. That not too much heat, with honor goes to Sriracha Panich, mild pickle/vinegar the sauce from, um, Sriracha, a overtones town in Southeast Thailand. First concocted by a Thai lady by the name of Thanom Chakkapak, it’s defined as a sauce made with: CRYING TIGER Chili Peppers, Garlic, Salt, Sugar & Vinegar. Thailand **+ All other Srirachas are a riff on Sweet but hot, with this one. Look up the Sriracha marmalade up front and Documentary on Netflix to get pickled chilis that float the background on where this off the tongue without mythical sauce got its start. SRIRACHA PANICH doing too much damage Thailand ** The Big Grandma of Srirachas, the one that started it all, with GRAND MOUNTAIN The NOTSO ORIGINAL an unmistakable tang and sweet Thailand ** (but still very awesome) SAUCE barbecue punch at first taste, then This little-known Thai lingering evenly dispersed medium sauce is perfectly heat in a thin yet hearty sauce. balanced between Thai Taste Thailand ** Like a syrup of paprika-spiced marmalde, this sauce would bitter, sweet and be great on eggs or noodles. hot. Even though it SHARK BRAND says “Very Hot” in Thailand ** Thai lettering on Although it’s not the original Thai Flying Goose Thailand ** the bottle, we still The Thais decided to put “flavor enhancers” in this sauce, Sriracha, this is probably the put it in the 2-Star which is mysterous and a little troubling. The end result is most popular within Thailand category, because this surprisingly normal, yet somehow deep and more fermented itself. It’s what we use for our lingering balance all than common. Bangkok Wings. The sweetness through the tasting hits first here, a long, non-intrusive experience keeps the caramelized fruit sensation on heat from becoming Best of Thailand Thailand ** the palate until just the slightest overpowering. Perhaps the smoothest sriracha out there, with tapioca pungent fermented spicy finish starch, delivering the mild pepper spice evenly over time . creeps in at last. COCONUT GROVE, FLORIDA HEAT KEY * MILD ** MEDIUM *** HOT **** REALLY HOT ***** INSANE SUPER HOT SR RACHAS Mad Dog 357 Reaper Massachusetts *****+ You have got to be kidding! No, you are not kidding. GREEN This is one serious sriracha sauce, packed with Carolina Reaper Peppers, the hottest on the planet. Not much flavor beyond the heat, but you’re left with major bragging rights after trying it. & ORGANIC LEE KUM KEE Zombie Blood New York ** Hong Kong *** Kitchen Garden Farm Ghost Pepper Even the undead appreciate the mild green From a large Asian food Fix Massachusetts *****+ peppers & salsa-like character of this sauce. supplier out of Hong Kong, Vietnam ***+ This is the sriracha sauce that mugged your own Almost chunky, with a strong this one leaves you with a namby pampy sriracha sauce and held it hostage + hit of garlic and an instant Musashi Green Sriracha New York ** mysterious umami kick; and received a big ransom payoff for it about ten With green serranos, brown sugar & rice hot impact. If you’re lookin’ see if you can detect the minutes later, which is how long the heat from this vinegar for a Japanese twist. surprising cache of anchovy for a quick “Fix,” this is your full-classic-sriracha-flavor sauce lasts. Excellent. paste on the back end. most sriracha-y sriracha. The Trader Joe’s Green California *+ Vietnamese are takin’ it to This green one has a mellow tomatillo vibe, like another level here. Blazing Dragon Ghost Pepper eating Thai salsa under a shade tree. ROLAND California ***** Some super nice folks make this supremely Tasty Pain is Good Green Kansas *+ China *** They fire-roast the Jalapeno peppers for this You’d ever know it from the Weak Knees Gochujang Sauce. Surprisingly similar to a typical sriracha name, but this sauce is out Korea via Brooklyn **+ at first taste, but then, in the end, you’re like, “Ah... one, making them extra mellow and tasty. Wow! The fermented soy in this of China. An apparent rip-off, that thing my mother warned me about all those + ahem, homage to the more Korean inspired version gives a years ago, the thing to avoid at all costs? I’ve finally Organic Sriracha California * unique savory taste. The peppers are organic. The garlic’s organic. famous “Rooster Sauce,” this experienced it: Ghost Peppers.” The salt is organic. SO California. So yum. “Dragon Sauce” has a definite heat kick going for it right Reaper-Acha Vermont Maple Verde Vermont ** up front, with an almost-but- Kansas City *****+ Less spicy than the original maple. Notes of not-quite-the-same pungent From the folks at Pain Is Good , this sauce is like, straw & northern vegetables. fermented quality as its more say, you were tasting a regular sriracha, but then well known competitor. Also, someone jammed a flame thower into the bottle Simply Natural Green New Jersey ** the sugar substrate is more and aimed it right at your tongue and put it on full Spinach here, and cilantro, plus lime juice and noticeable here, for better or blast. Strong, pure, beautiful sriracha, like sriracha tomatillo, making it different. Then they add a worse. magnified in a giant resonance chamber atNASA . Or trace of habanero powder. And it’s organic! something. LA SRIRACHA RACHA Whiskey Barrel-Aged Sriracha Los Angeles *** Pennsylvania *** It says “Mexican” right on the label, with a little Spanish-style So, you take sriracha, and you put it in barrel. And inside that barrel there used bull up top, so you know this is gonna be different. Withlemons, to be whiskey. Already, you’re thinking, “How about you give me some of this onions and cilantro added to the usual culprits of pepper and whiskey barrel-aged sriracha?” Lucky for you, you’re at Atchana’s, and that’s garlic, this sauce takes your tongue in a completely different exactly what’s going to happen. You’ll find the sweetness is strongest here, direction, almost like someone snuck a dash of traditional followed by the heat, which is substantial, then the vinegar tang. This is kind of sriracha into a bowl of homemade salsa at a family restaurant interesting. in Mazatlán then put the whole thing in a blender. PAIN IS GOOD JUST JAN’S TANGERINE SRIRACHA Kansas City *** California ** and then *** Don’t let the name fool you. This is not the hottest sriracha out there. It does, This one is like spreading tangerine jam on a slice of toast however, have serious pepper street-cred. It’s as if a CAT 4 tornado whipped at a cafe in the early morning in Bangkok, and then suddenly, through a Pepper mill in Kansas City and squirted out afterwards in red liquid Bam, you’ve got your pepper punch not far behind. The first hit form into this flat, fun bottle. Enjoy. is 2-star hot, but the finish is 3. Bonus: see if you can detect a little bit of coriander in that 3-star afterburn. STEVE’S MANGO-RATCHA Huy Fong “Rooster Sauce” NINJA SQUIRREL ASS KICKIN’ SRIRACHA Atchana’s Homegrown Thai House-Brand, Miami **+ California **+ Arizona, ***+ Ok, we’re prejudiced. A little. Atchana’s A flood of pungency with a trademark balanced salty We’re not Really Sure Where This Comes From So, at first when you try this, you’re like, husband Steve hand-picks the peppers and sweetness right beneath it, this is the flavor profile many Except Whole Foods ** “This is just like other srirachas, smooth hand-makes each batch with fresh mangoes, This is like Rooster Sauce Lite™. Same associate with Sriracha. Some even think of it as the and smokey and kind of fermented-tasting.” palm sugar imported from Thailand, and pungency, same sweet undertones. But it “original,” but make no mistake, this is another knock-off But then, just when you think you’re safe, whenever possible fresh organic garlic from doesn’t hurt you and doesn’t insult you and it of the historically-first Thai recipe (see Sriracha Panich). it’s like “Whoa, my ass is, indeed, slightly his brother’s garlic farm in British Columbia. gets along with almost everyone, regardless kicked here.” It’s not a super-strong 4-star Equal parts mango-smacks-you-in-the-face of its underlying, perhaps malevolent sriracha, but a little bump above the typical and pepper-bites-your-tongue at first, then intentions, which is perhaps why it is the 3. This sauce features pure jalapeños, pungent umami brings up the rear. VERMONT MAPLE SRIRACHA favorite of certain politicians. You’ve been Vermont **+ so the peppers themselves must be the Available for purchase $9. Almost crunchy with crystalized maple sugar, this warned. source of the heat. We’re talking nicely aged sauce still packs a requisite full-bodied pepper profile jalapeños. Like as if Sean Connery were a and satisfying tang. One of our most popular sauces, jalapeño. requested by a wide range of sauce-ionados. Yellow Bird Blue Agave Sriracha Austin, TX ** HOT BUT NOT RIDICULOUS SRIRACHAS Like eating blue corn chips w/ sriracha sauce. Without the chips. Musashi Honey Sriracha New York *** Yuzu Pao Illinois **** The serrano peppers make this pretty hot. Honey makes it sweet. Immediate heat and YUZU - a super sour/tart citrus from Asia. Stubbs Texas Sriracha Austin ** Race City Seven Pepper Sriracha Charlotte, NC **** More like a marinade in the barbecue range. Easily addictive. Decent heat here, in a barbeque-sauce-type base, with the Asian tang of fish sauce thrown in too.