Spicy and Vibrant Red: How the Famous Sriracha Sauce is Really Created | The State

Photo:
Austin Kirk / Creative Commons

The Sriracha sauce is so famous and is distinguished by its vibrant red color and with a rooster on the label. This sauce that you see everywhere, began its history in the United States in the 80s by a vietnamese who had just arrived in a cargo ship named Huy Fong, or “accumulating prosperity” in English; the name of the sauce company is in honor of that cargo ship.

Since 1975, in his native Vietnam, David Tran, he distributed bicycle to family and friendsu hot sauce that was packed in recycled glass baby food jars. Later he and his family fled communism in 1979 reaching the shores of the United States.

“Family and friends” became Chinatown

Tran soon arrived in America, he realized that they were not alone. In California there were a lot of immigrants from Southeast Asia; decided to bring them hot sauces that reminded a bit of home.

Baby food jars became clear plastic bottles, the bicycle became a blue chevy pickup truck in which Tran hand painted his first logos of hot sauce. Put a rooster in the bottle to honor the year he was born and that picture not changed since the company started.

In 1980, “family and friends” became Chinatown in The Angels, restaurants and markets Asians; often drove up San Francisco and even San Diego. It focused on cities with large concentrations of Southeast Asian residents.

Sriracha inspired by Thai sauce

Among Tran’s sauces I create one inspired by a Thai sauce, it required vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, and red jalapenos specially cultivated, I would call it Sriracha after the place where I would start the first version of the recipe.

According to Thrillist, Sriracha sauce inspired by a bright garlic chili sauce called Sriraja Panich and what was created in the coastal city of Si Racha in the southeast of Thailand