Sriracha sauce history
Sriracha sauce has a rich and fascinating history that spans over 80 years. Here’s a brief overview:
Early Beginnings In the 1930s, a Thai cook and entrepreneur named Thanom Chakkapak developed a hot sauce for her home kitchen, serving it on fish and other dishes. Encouraged to market the sauce commercially, she named it Sriraja Panich after her coastal hometown of Si Racha (also called Sri Racha and Sri Raja) in eastern Thailand.
Thailand’s Original Sriracha
Sriraja Panich is the brand name of one of two Sriracha sauces created by Saowanit Trikityanukul’s family. The family sold the brand to Thaitheparos, Thailand’s leading sauce company, in the 1980s. The brand struggled to gain a foothold in the US, where the Huy Fong Rooster brand of Sriracha, created by Vietnamese-American David Tran, reigns supreme.
The Rooster Brand
Huy Fong Foods, founded by David Tran in 1980, is the company behind the popular Rooster brand of Sriracha sauce. The company’s sriracha sauce is made from a secret recipe that includes chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. The sauce is produced in a factory in Irwindale, California, and is exported to countries around the world.