Huy Fong brand Sriracha has gotten very expensive and hard to find because the company’s chile supplier had a crop failure. I’m looking for an alternative. What are the best brands of Sriracha available now?
Thanks.
In the past, I have had the Sriraja Panich brand, and found it quite good. I’ve not looked for it lately but now I’m thinking I’ll need to visit some of my local asian food stores and see if they carry it. I can’t really compare it directly to the Huy Fong version as I didn’t do a taste test at the time.
Since the shortage, we’ve tried a Texas Pete brand and currently have a bottle of the Dynasty brand. The Texas Pete brand (I know, a bbq brand of sriracha is kind of cringeworthy) was good-ish . The Dynasty brand seems much sweeter, its ok but I wouldn’t buy it again. I hope the real thing comes back one day!
This is an important thread which I’ll be following closely.
I haven’t found anything that fits the same slot as Huy Fong. There are hotter sauces, tastier sauces, sharper sauces. But rooster sauce is like the ketchup of hot sauces. It goes well with almost everything, and I miss it!
Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp can also go on almost everything, but it’s a very different thing. Not a substitute even if it’s also wonderful.
When the shelves went empty of the beloved, life-giving Huy Fong Sriracha, we were forced to try the Tabasco Brand version. At first I was longing for the real thing, but the Tabasco version started to grow on me, and by the end of the bottle I was planning to get another. But, I was able to acquire a small bottle of the original.
I buy the “Cha” brand, made by Texas Pete.
I’m not big on hot sauce, though.
Now I’m thinking I’ll make my own.
Any favored recipes from those who’ve tried them (and lived) are welcome.
I don’t make my own sriracha, but make a number of my own hot sauces. I do agree with @Johnny_Bravo though, the advantage of sriracha is that it works “okay” with just about everything.
Right now, I’m using the Trader Joe equivalent, as a compromise in cost, availability and quality. It’s decidedly meh though. I won’t recommend it as anything other than a compromise though.
The original Rooster can’t be beat.
Yellowbird brand has some gourmet hot sauces including Sriracha that is pretty good.
I keep an open mind since I always thought Tabasco traditional was the greatest, until someone on these boards suggested I do a taste off with Crystal. And of course turned out Crystal was far superior. Not the case with the Tabasco version of Huy Fong. Tabasco Sriracha tastes like an abomination to me.
I used to use Huy Fong sriracha, but I found the chili garlic sauce from the same company to be more to my taste, and it might be easier to find. I had no problem finding it a few months ago, and have three jars of it. It’s thicker than sriracha and has to be spooned out of a jar rather than poured, but otherwise IMO can be used everywhere you would use sriracha.
Yes, “angry grandma” chili crisp (made in China) is indeed a different thing altogether from the two other sauces I mentioned, and for my tastes, has different uses. I especially like it mixed in with other sauces – with shrimp cocktail sauce and with plum sauce in particular, for dipping shrimp and spring rolls, respectively.
Tabasco has its uses. It’s very thin and vinegary, so it blends well with certain foods. I like it in clam chowder.
Sausage gravy smothered over biscuits and gravy, hash browns, etc., for that authentic Diner experience.
Sriracha didn’t impress me at first as a standalone dip or anything, but I learned to like it in soups and stews or casseroles, and because it is concentrated. Around here Gilroy garlic has disappeared from the shelves, only the cheap stuff is found, a pale imitation. So the Sriracha rooster sauce is also kind of a handy way to get both heat and garlic into a dish.
The Tabasco version of Sriracha tastes too sweet.
Huy Fong has been having problems because they apparently tried to screw with their supplier. The farm that supplied them is making their own now and it’s called Underwood Ranches. I have not tried it to comment.
Is this a recent thing?
IIRC they fought with their original pepper suppliers many years ago and had to find a different supplier who grew a different pepper. So, the original Sriracha that made them famous is not the same as what it is today (and, reportedly, the changed recipe is not as good as the original).
Did they do it again to their current supplier?
No, the previous. It looks like they stopped working together in 2016.
I think the chili garlic sauce is far superior to the squeeze bottle sauce, but alas, I can’t find it anywhere now. Same shortage, I suspect.
I don’t know what the current situation is locally, but when I heard about the shortage a few months ago I stocked up on multiple jars of the chili garlic sauce. I also have a bottle of the sriracha but that’s probably just going to sit in the cupboard for a long time. I assume that stuff lasts practically forever, especially if unopened.
I have somehow acquired a cabinet full of hot sauces of various ilks, but at the moment I’m working through a bottle of Suur Sriracha. Maybe just a tinge sweeter than I’d prefer, but I like the heat level and the consistency.
For chili garlic sauce I just go with Nando’s, which is lazy of me but I like it on french fries.
Of the Louisiana or Louisiana-style hot sauces, it’s by far my favorite. I have no idea why Crystal is held up as superior — I find it insipid and bland compared to Tabasco. Tabasco has got the funk I love.
Yellowbird is my favorite for sriracha. They can do no wrong with any of their hot sauces. The actual Thai srirachas like Sriraja Panich I find far too sweet for my taste, and even the Huy Fong is sweet enough.
They’ve been out of it at my local store for weeks.