For entertainment at last Sunday's Supper Club dinner, I hosted a tasting of 11 srirachas and one of my wonderful guests brought a version she made at home the week before. Colors ranged from a orange through vibrant reds to reddish browns.
For tasting devices, I served thin cold celery sticks and thin crispy long wafers of wonton wrappers cut into thirds, sprayed with oil mist, and baked for four minutes at 400 F. They not only provided a light, not-filling tasting vehicle, they demonstrated the viscosity of each sauce as some, you'd dip, and the strip would pull out like a broth, leaving behind no trace, and others were the texture of thick ketchup where each dip permanently changed the surface and didn't close up. Some were in between. I will refer to those as light, medium and heavy viscosities.
The differences were illuminating. Anyone who thought sriracha was just one product learned otherwise. No two were alike, though the Kikkoman and Tabasco resembled each other quite a bit. Could have been the same sub-supplier with a single additional additive for differntiation.
Shark brand, Thailand: Orange-red, light-medium viscosity, sweetest of the 12 with a playful tamarind note to its acidity. .
Nang Fam, Thailand: orange-red too but one shade redder than the Shark, with bright Fresno red pepper fruit, medium viscosity, and terrific balance of heat/salt/sweet. One of my favorites, and my little bottle cost exactly $1.53 at Uwajimaya in Seattle.
Kikkoman, presumed U.S.: darkest brownish of them all, heavy viscosity, very salty, with fish sauce aftertaste. Fish sauce was a characteristic of several of these sauces, but few left the assertive fermented fish aftertaste this did. Disliked by all.
Thaifusions, Seattle: orange color, light viscosity, upfront notes of coconut fish sauce, very tangy. Unusual, and one of my favorites.
Lingham's, Malaysia: brownish red, medium-plus viscosity, with very roasted flavors on the fruit and nuttiness as if it contained peanuts. Was very love/hate with the group because of that nut flavor. I loved.
Tabasco, USA: brownest of them all, also the saltiest of them all, with heavy viscosity. Similar to the Kikkoman, but with a stale coffee note. Another that was disliked by all.
Huy Fong, California: deep crimson red, med-plus viscosity, and oddly homogenous in flavor with respect to the rest of the sauces. Didn't give us that "Oh yes, this is sriracha!" moment we expected (though maybe it would if any of us used it alone daily), but no flavor in particular stood out--the strongest impression was that it's not as sweet as I/we remembered it to be. No one loved, no one hated--we were just impressed with how unimpressed we were. Meh.
Yuzupao, Japan: Orange, light viscosity, with the lively,complex flavor of exotic yuzu citrus fruit and mildly bitter rind among the red peppers and garlic. Pretty much everyone's favorite among the commercially made sauces just for being so different and so good.
Trader Joe's, U.S.: Medium red, medium viscosity, tomato-ey, mildest/Americanized, tasted like a 50/50 blend of Hunts ketchup and Huy Fong. I've been using it at home in lieu of ketchup, in fact, on the very rare occasions Bob and I use either. Got one vote for 'favorite' for just that reason--from the Brit. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
Capital Sriracha, Sacramento: light orange-y red, light viscosity, smooth but present heat, vinegary like Tabasco therefore a sauce you could substitute for regular Tabasco Sauce. Most didn't care for the vinegar element. I liked it even if it's not what I think of as characteristic sriracha--it's a sriracha you could put on your eggs, where most aren't. (Guess who likes Tabasco on her eggs?) I liked this a lot.
Lee Kum Kee, ostensibly U.S.A: Fire engine red, heavy viscosity, with a strident metallic flavor and pulpy/coarse horseradish texture. Metallic flavor went away with the celery, but was quite obvious on the wonton crisp. Less sweet than most, and more heat. No one loved it, no one hated it.
Our Friend Linda's: Bright red, medium viscosity, with exquisite balance of heat/sweet/sour enhanced by it's sheer freshness. Won the contest hands down (well, except for the Brit).
