Although that’s a Thai sauce.
It’s really more of an American sauce at this point. While it shares a name with Thai Sriracha sauce, it’s taste & texture is significantly different and was created by a Vietnamese immigrant in California. It’s as American as General Tso’s Chicken, hard shell tacos & sunday gravy.
Huh. I knew it was there but didn’t know it had caught on that well. I would have thought the name was copyrighted, as that is the actual name of the product here.
(I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of General Tso’s Chicken.)
There’s a whole movie about it: The Search for General Tso. I watched it on Netflix, it’s probably still on there. Lightweight, entertaining documentary.
I was thinking of this stuff.
I also found it in Hong Kong (or, something equivalent in taste), but it might have been in a little pot on the table, not in a labeled bottle. It’s been about 25 years, and I don’t explicitly remember.
Sriracha has been in American Asian restaurants at least since the mid-1990s (but surely much longer). But it’s really taken off and become something of an American culinary fad over about the last 5 years (maybe a little sooner on the coasts 
). Lots of basic foodstuffs are now available in American groceries in “Sriracha flavor” – e.g. sriracha mayonnaise is no longer a specialty item. You can go into gas stations and get Sriracha-flavored potato chips (even basic brands like Lay’s). Fast food places have sriracha-flavored sauces now. And so on.
The wife will be pleased to learn this, as we’re moving back to Hawaii in a few months.
My Vietnamese partner disagrees that it’s American, because they all grew up enjoying this style sauce in Vietnam, and his countryman has gifted us with his delicious recipe here. I love it, and I don’t normally like hot sauces.
My favorite dim sum dish is the puffy fried taro ball. Crunchy, greasy, unhealthy joy.
Copyright law does not protect names, single words, short phrases, titles, or slogans.
Furthermore, copyright protection doesn’t attach through an act of “copyrighting”—a creative and original work of expression is protected under copyright law as soon as it is fixed in a perceivable medium.
You might be thinking of trademark law, which grants exclusive rights to the use of brand names, or, more precisely, distinctive indicators of origin of the source of goods or services.
Similarly, trademark protection does not attach through an act of “trademarking.” Rather, trademark rights are created through use in commerce as a trademark.
A non-distinctive term (such as a generic or descriptive term) cannot be a trademark and no act of “trademarking” can make it so.
I was once in San Francisco on business, alone, and had a day to wander around Chinatown and stuff. I stopped in a place that looked promising for lunch, thinking I’d order off the menu, but the servers insisted I try the dim sum, that it was no problem for them to scale down for one. So, I’d choose random stuff, they’d transfer one dumpling or whatever to a tiny plate, and mark my card for that. I suppose the remainder got served in cut-down portions, too; it seemed like they were easy with the whole thing of serving for one.
My guess would be that it was because it was a place more likely to get walk in single customers, so they were used to it. But might not hurt to call and ask if you’re on your own and want some dim sum. It was a lovely meal, and still quite cheap.
Accent, if that’s still on the market – I remember the “ABC – Accent Before Cooking” TV ads from long ago – is simply MSG.
They used the freshness ingredient! Seriously, those pictures look good. I hope you are able to try it, and it lives up to your expectations.
Yes, before cooking. That’s not the same as a table condiment. If you look at the recipes on the Accent web site you’ll see that none of them suggests using it as a condiment. even sven says it’s used that way in Sichuan, but I don’t remember ever seeing it as a table condiment in the U.S.
I was talking about dim sum with a coworker who grew up in Hong Kong. He visits family in Hong Kong about once a year and he reports that the dim sum places in Hong Kong mostly eliminated the carts and you order from the menu now.
Here is an article on one restaurant in San Francisco (celebrity chef David Chang’s well-regarded Mission Chinese) that put MSG on the table.
In the States I see it regularly in Sichuan Hot Pot restaurants, and occasionally in other Chinese restaurants. In other cuisines you may see it at the table in the form of a bottle of Maggi Sauce.
David Chang runs Momofuku, Anthony Myint runs Mission Chinese. I think those MSG shakers are upon request only or something, I certainly don’t remember seeing them tableside last time I ate there.
Thank you for the correction. That’s what I get for skimming.
Yes, I guess I was thinking of trademarking. But it doesn’t matter, since it turns out “sriracha” was not trademarked.
It’s called ‘ji zhua’ (not sure about the tones). My wifey (Cantonese) introduced it to me a few years ago and I’ve come to kinda, sorta appreciate it, despite the bony texture.
OP, scout out some common dim sum items online. There are probably some translations available. Maybe even a site like YellowBridge might have some items for ya.