There’s a commercial for hot sauce on TV with the tagline, “I put that #%*& on everything.” That’s how I feel about sriracha.
Sriracha is a fiery-red Thai-American hot sauce fondly known by its loyal followers as rooster sauce (just look at a bottle), and the condiment’s popularity means that it can be found everywhere—from mega-marts and convenience stores to truck stops and 4-star restaurants.
The ingredient list is actually printed in five different languages. Chilies, sugar, salt, garlic, and distilled vinegar are the main ingredients. Then comes potassium sorbate and sodium bisulfate. I wanted to figure out how to make my own rooster sauce, minus the preservatives.
I found a few recipes that called for cooking a mixture of chopped red jalapenos with a little bit of sugar, three garlic cloves, a few tablespoons of vinegar, and water (fish sauce was in the mix as well). After I had simmered and pureed the ingredients in the blender, painstakingly strained it, and pressed out all the seeds, I gave it a taste.
Disappointing at best. It was ripping hot, for sure, but tasted more like a spicy red bell pepper sauce and was the wrong color; more orange than the deep red I was looking for.
Then I found a recipe that pureed the peppers raw, along with significant amounts of water and vinegar. After that, the mixture was pressed through a fine mesh strainer (not an easy task), simmered until thickened, and aged for about a week. The balance of flavors was better, and the consistency was the ketchup-y thickness of the original. But I wanted to make it easier.
For my next batch, I took the extra prep step of seeding the jalapenos before adding them (raw) to the blender, which eliminated the need to strain the sauce at all. I tweaked the proportion of vinegar to water, blending the mixture until no red bits were visible through the container, and then I transferred the potent mixture to a saucepan. I added sugar and salt, brought the mixture to a boil (skimming the foam that inevitably floats to the surface and causes the pot to boil over), and simmered the sauce until slightly thickened. After 20 minutes, I gave the sauce another whirl in the blender to thoroughly pulverize any chile bits.
I let it cool and gave it a taste—straight up on a spoon. It was delicious. Hot (but not searing), spicy, salty, sweet, sour: the perfect condiment. And yeah, I will put it on just about anything.
Step #1 PROTECT YOURSELF
Step #2 ▼
My sriracha recipe calls for red jalapeno chilies—they’re not the hottest peppers on the block, but it’s still a good idea to wear rubber gloves when you’re cutting them to protect yourself from potential pepper-oil irritations.
Step #2 SEED IT
Step #3 ▼
Choose chilies that are bright red, firm, and ripe. Start by cutting the stems off the peppers. Next, scrape out all of the remaining seeds; I find that using the tip of a teaspoon is helpful for this. You can leave the seeds in if you want a spicier sauce.
Step #3 PREP IT
Step #4 ▼
After you’ve stemmed and seeded all of the chilies, cut them in half lengthwise. Assemble the rest of your ingredients: garlic, water, vinegar, sugar, salt.
Step #4 BLEND IT
Step #5 ▼
Put the chilies and garlic cloves in the blender. Then add the liquids: I like to use both water (for easy blending) and vinegar (for a sour bite). Blend the mixture until very smooth; it takes about 2 minutes.
Step #5 SIMMER IT
Step #6 ▼
Transfer the puree into a large saucepan. Stir in the sugar and salt and bring it to a simmer.
Step #6 SKIM IT
Step #7 ▼
As the mixture starts to boil, foam will rise to the surface (and may cause it to boil over if you’re not paying attention—this has happened to me, so beware). Use a large spoon to skim the foam and discard it.
Step #7 TRANSFER IT
Step #8 ▼
After the mixture has simmered until it has thickened and reduced to about 2 cups (this typically takes me about 20 to 25 minutes), it will turn a deep fire-engine red color. Transfer the mixture back to your clean blender.
Step #8 BLEND IT AGAIN
Step #9 ▼
Blend the sriracha on low speed (so you don’t incorporate too much air) until the sauce is as smooth as ketchup (about 20 seconds).
Step #9 CHILL IT
Step #10 ▼
Transfer the sriracha to a glass measuring cup and let cool. Then refrigerate it for at least 1 day before using. Yeah, you could use it right away, but I found that the flavors deepen and get better with age.
Step #10 EAT IT
You can transfer the cooled sauce to a glass jar or a plastic squeeze bottle for easy serving. Sriracha is good on rice, great in stir-fries, or in soup, or… just about anything.
About the Author: Diane Unger
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Deseeding peppers? What is the point of making a hot sauce?
I’m freaking out with joy right now over this recipe. Thank You!
I tried to make this a few years ago. My first attempt was so awful, I just gave up. I’m very impressed that you cracked the code.
Love the recipe…will try. BUT…where do I get the way cool squeeze bottle with Roster and attached cap???
Hint: If you find the idea of wearing gloves just too ugh to contemplate…Have a bottle of Coke around, to rinse your hands with…blows away hot oils nicely…other soda pops? Dunno…my friends from India always order a Coke (very specific) when they sit down to an India hot meal…same when at home, always have a Coke to wash away the heat.
Actually, drinking coke and other sodas intensify the spice.
Any tips on where to find red Jalapeños in the Boston area? I’ve been looking for a while with no luck (Market Basket, Super 88, Whole Foods, Stop and Shop).
I plan on doing this with red habaneros
And there’s a small error regarding myths about peppers… it’s not the seeds, it’s the membranes that are super hot.
As for the Coke / no-Coke debate – I always used to drink hot coffee or tea with spicy foods instead of Coke – the hot liquid helps to wash away the oily / burn-y part of the peppers/chilli… Don’t really need to any more, as I got used to most spicy foods!
Anyways – the advice was from a old work colleague from the Middle East, so he should know what he was talking about!
I love the preservative free aspect – how long can I safely store in the refrigerator?
I made it with habaneros and some other jamaican peppers, it’s awesome, thanks for the recipe !!
@ chrisison : you can store it for one month in the fridge, but I think that if you use an autoclave, you can keep the sauce longer. Bootled for example.
Dan, if no red jalapeños…try Fresno chiles, those are very similar and usually available red.
I believe red Jalapenos are just green ones that have further ripened, so just buy green ones ahead of time.
Did you notice a difference leaving out the fish sauce? Would adding an anchovy contribute anything to the flavor?
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING! I thought I was going to have to reinvent the wheel!
I am confused why thai chili peppers weren’t used? Also known as bird’s eye chili. They are a great general purpose chili because the heat comes on strong and then goes away within about 5-10min.
Regarding “growplants” comment about buying green jalapenos: Once the pepper is picked green, no further color change will take place. In other words, if you pick it (or buy it) green, it will stay green. I have never seen a red jalapeno in a store so with this recipe in mind, I planted a jalapeno plant in my garden this year. I’m pleased to report that when the green jalapenos are left on the plant, they turn a beautiful red color. I’ve picked the first four red jalapenos and plan to make a small batch of sriracha. I’m hopeful the other buds will produce a bumper crop before our growing season ends. You can bet that next year I’ll be planting three or four jalapeno plants – and planting them earlier in the spring – so I can make a nice big batch of sriracha. Thanks for the recipe! I love Cooks Illustrated, Cooks Country and all your TV shows. They’re my cooking bibles.
WOW!! I made this tonight. I grow Fresno peppers so that is what I used. I followed the recipe exactly -except- I used Palm Sugar. I have VitaMix so the blender made quick work of all ingredients including the chunks of Palm Sugar. I did not skim the foam while the sauce was simmering – it was gone when the sauce was done and cooled down. The color!! I expected some loss of the RED color but it did not happen. The taste is fantastic. It will sit in fridge for a day or two and them put in squirt bottle. Plan to make another batch using Thai chili pods. I will also make another batch with the Fresno peppers and do a pressure canning so I can keep it on the shelf. BTW this stuff is great dip for Potato Chips and Pretzels.
JohnQ, beg to differ on the color change. I grow a wide variety of peppers and, toward the end of the season have to pick many of them before they ripen or they will freeze. Not the optimum choice, because if you don’t keep an eye on them, they start to soften a littlet. For cooking, this isn’t an issue, but I think here you’d want them crisp and fresh. Supermarket chilis may have been picked way too green to change colors well, but from the garden or produce/farm market, they should do fine.
No fermentation? Fermentation of chili pepper/sugar/salt purees is a pretty critical step in most Asian chili sauce formulations. That’s what makes the difference between a sauce that’s earthy/tangy and one that’s just sour and hot, with the right color and consistency. This process can occur to some degree in the refrigerator (the effect you noticed of ageing in the fridge improving the flavor) – but proceeds better at room temperature over the course of several days.
I too want to know where did you get the great “rooster” bottle too!
Also, how long can it be stored safely?
Thank you!
A recipe I’ve used in the past (http://food52.com/recipes/6441-fresh-sriracha-aka-home-made-rooster) keeps the seeds, but simmers everything before blending for a full 5 minutes.
The result is not as thick as what you buy in the store, but the taste is great