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Not long ago, a beat-up cardboard box arrived at my door. Wet and stained crimson at the corners, it smelled spicy. My postal gal had stuck this note on the box: "Looks like ketchup inside." I was on red alert, but this was no terrorist attack. I was expecting a delivery of
Sriraja Panich, the original Thai version of the celebrated Sriracha "rooster sauce" made in America by Huy Fong Foods. Sriraja Panich, however, is hard to come by in the United States; in fact, the only bottle I'd tasted was a gift from gastronaut Pim Techamuanvivit, who'd brought it back from Bangkok.
The Thais also make many versions of the sauce (all of them called some variant of Sriracha), which tend to be more liquid and pourable than Huy Fong's. Sriraja Panich has a lovely balance of bright chile heat, delicate sweetness, vinegary tang, and garlicky backnote. Though I'm not a heat seeker, I can practically drink the "strong hot" version. When I opened the box from Eastland Food (the sauce's sole U.S. distributor), my heart sank: two of the three tall glass bottles had broken. I thought of scraping up the orange-red liquid stuck to the bubble wrap, but my husband talked me out of it.
Within days, I'd eaten about a quarter of the surviving bottle and had some burning questions for Eastland. The answers--gleaned from emails, in-person meetings at a trade show, and phone conversations with its representative--are below. --Andrea Nguyen
What's the history of Sriracha?
It was created over 80 years ago by Ms. Thanom Chakkapak in the sleepy seaside district of Si Racha in Thailand. She initially made it for her family and friends. People loved its flavor and versatility. They encouraged her to make it commercially. She did, and Sriraja Panich eventually became the best-selling chile sauce in Thailand. In 1984, Ms. Chakkapak sold the company to Thai Theparos Food Products, a major food company in Thailand.
How is Sriraja Panich made?
Sriraja Panich is still made using natural ingredients and aged for at least three months to bring out the chile's natural flavor. Vinegar is slowly added on a weekly basis to gradually merge the flavors of the ingredients. This is all done naturally, without the use of artificial chemicals or preservatives.
Why are there many spellings for the sauce?
There has been confusion over the years as to the proper spelling of the sauce and who invented it. Since Thailand does not adhere to one romanization system for Thai words, many variants have emerged from companies that have tried to imitate the original: Sriraja, Si-racha, Sriracha, Siracha, etc. However, everyone in Thailand knows that the true original is Sriraja Panich.
What is the Thai pronunciation for Sriracha?
"See-rah-jah." The first "r" is not pronounced and the word is said as three distinct syllables.
Americans cook all kinds of wacky ways with Sriracha. What do Thai people do with it?
Si Racha is a port, so the sauce was originally enjoyed with lots of fresh seafood, almost like a shrimp cocktail sauce. The flavor cuts the richness of fried food but goes with grilled and boiled seafood too. A raw oyster shooter with the chile sauce and a young tamarind leaf is very good. People also eat Sriracha with rice and Thai omelet, beaten egg seasoned with fish sauce that's fried in a wok. Some Thais cook with Sriracha by adding it to the flavoring sauce for pad Thai noodles.
Given the immense popularity of Huy Fong's Sriracha sauce, what took Eastland so long to launch Sriraja Panich in America?
We have actually been distributing Sriraja Panich on the East Coast for years, but it wasn't until The Sriracha Cookbook by Randy Clemens (in 2011) that we realized how much Americans like the sauce. American uses for it are very creative and inventive. This makes us very happy.
Where can people buy Sriraja Panich?
The sauce has been selling in Asian markets in the East Coast such as Hong Kong Super Market in Elmhurst, Queens, and Bangkok Center Grocery in New York City. You can also find it at Whole Foods (Bowery, Tribeca, Columbus Circle, Union Square). If people want to inquire about availability at specific locations, use our Facebook page.
Eastland Food was reluctant to reveal a timetable for distributing Sriraja Panich to the rest of the United States. Keep an eye out for it. The original version of the Thai hot sauce is a latecomer here, but it's definitely worth hunting down.
Andrea Nguyen is a cookbook author, food writer, and cooking teacher.