Sriracha Sauce Thai Dragon

[Lahoma Jenkins]

Iwas squeezing the last firecracker that would fit into my dad's five-gallon bucket. It was all a kid could do to entertain himself while playing hooky from school on such a beautiful spring day. However, I decided loading all of my fireworks into a bucket wasn't quite enough, this show needed bigger pyrotechnics! I think it was Jesus who said, "Go big or go home", and since I was already home the decision was pretty much made for me. There was still room to top off that bucket of firecrackers with gasoline!

I lit a rag on fire and dropped it down into my bucket of hell, promptly giving me an up-close and personal look at the inside of a fireball. I jumped out of the flames to gaze in fear of the fireworks scattering like politicians fleeing a lie detector, my bucket melting down, and the dry grass starting on fire.

I wasn't near a hose, so I had to run inside and fill up mop buckets of water in an effort to douse the fire one pail at a time. When I was done there was a 15' x 15' charred piece of earth where our lawn used to be. I spent the remainder of the afternoon raking burnt lawn and replacing it with sand and fresh grass clippings to hide the mayhem. It worked. My parents never said a word.

My Homemade Asian Hot Sauce is a flavorful sauce that is similar to sriracha, though a little thinner and smoother, with a slightly deeper flavor. This is my go-to sauce on any Asian food, and pizza. Yes, pizza! If you ever wanted a hot sauce for your pizza, I got the goods right here!

You can make hot sauce and just store it in the fridge, but if you are like me and enjoy building up a little stockpile to enjoy throughout the year, invest in some bottles and caps (affiliate link). They aren't expensive and you can reuse the bottles. This sauce is shelf-stable for 6 months when properly bottled.

Thank you for this! I am about to try it with a Thai chili plant I accidentally planted (it was mislabeled in the garden center) that is yielding a bumper crop. I am wondering about the food mill. Is the purpose of that to remove skins in a way that a blender can't? I don't have a food mill and am wondering if another good blend (I do have a very high powered Vitamix) will suffice.

The purpose of the food mill is to remove the seeds and tough skins. I use a fine mesh strainer and push the blended pepper mixture through the mesh strainer with a rubber spatula and it does the trick!

I made the sauce but had to use apple cider vinegar instead since that's all I had. It was SO good and hot right after I blended everything. Now that it's oxydized and sat for 48 hours it's a lot mellower and not nearly as sweet. Still good flavor. Maybe if I add more vinegar and hoisen? It's still pretty thick.

I cannot think that any other sauce will take the place of Sriracha. I am a hot sauce fanatic but have yet to taste any hot sauce with th flavor and spice level of Sriracha. However, so many people rave about it that I will give it a try.

If you want an Asian flavored sauce I recommend sticking with Thai peppers, although a few ripe (red) jalapenos could be a good additional layer of flavor too. However, for a more all-purpose hot sauce blending multiple peppers together tastes great! Habaneros, jalapenos, and anything else you find - feel free to mix and match and experiment. None of it will taste bad.

Water is needed simply to bring it to the proper consistency. Though I highly recommend it, feel free to omit it. You can always add it at the end if you decide you need to thin the sauce out. I would not substitute it for another ingredient or you will likely throw off the balance of flavors.

Did you take the photo on the top of this page? I saw the same photo on youtube - **Link Removed**

I also made an adapted version of this sauce and did a video of it on my channel - awesome sauce brother!!

This homemade sriracha sauce recipe is more like the original Thai recipe, so much better than anything from the grocery store, and can be made with fresh or fermented peppers. Time to make sriracha hot sauce!

Here in the United States, red jalapeno peppers are used to make sriracha sauce, though bright red Fresno chili peppers make a fine substitute. You can also use red Thai chili peppers to make your own sriracha hot sauce, which have more heat on the Scoville Scale.

Fermenting the peppers breaks down the carbohydrates and converts them to acid, which mellows the peppers considerably, affecting the overall flavor. I suggest trying the recipe both ways, with and without fermenting, and see for yourself which version of sriracha you prefer.

There is an obvious difference between the sriracha you get from the store vs. your homemade version. The homemade sriracha has a thinner consistency and isn't quite as sweet, though you can adjust sweetness easily by adding more or less sugar.

You can also adjust the thickness of your final sriracha sauce by adjusting the amount of peppers used in the recipe, by adjusting the amount of vinegar and water used, and also by adjusting your cooking time. Simmer the sauce longer to thicken it up if you'd like.

Personally, I like my own homemade version better, but I wouldn't throw away my bottle of Huy Fong Food's rooster sauce! I mean, major KUDOS to David Tran for giving us a sauce that made Americans realize there is more to condiments than ketchup and mustard.

It should keep a few months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It's all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 4.0 or so, to account for errors.

I find them locally sometimes, but I also order through Amazon. Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce - Set of 4. If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz - 24 Pack.

XiXi, yes, fermentation adds a whole new dimension of flavor, a nice funk factor that many people enjoy. For dried pods, use 4x the amount, as dried pods are 1/4 the weight of fresh. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!

I've fermented my peppers and want to make the sauce but the recipe says 2 pounds in either case fresh or fermented. I realize chopped size makes a difference (I just chopped mine into rings not ground up like a mash) but I've fermented a large amount and an estimated volume measurement per recipe batch would be most helpful even if only an estimate? Thank you

Hi Larry, thanks for asking. First things first, converting weight to a volume measurement can be a bit tricky due to the difference in size and density of peppers you are using VS mine. So it is safer to go by weight. But a very approximate one pound of chili peppers roughly equals to 2-3 cups, more or less, when chopped. Again, this can vary based on the size and type of the peppers being used. Plus, chopping into rings may occupy even more volume compared to a finer chop or mash. The fermentation can change the volume slightly, too. So you could start with something like 4 (-6) cups, and see how it goes - it is always easier to add more than to go the other way around.

Glad you're enjoying them, Melissa. Really you can just give them a shake to bring them together again. However, for the next time, use less liquid - you can use NONE or only some of the brine, and even reduce the amount of vinegar. You can also add in more peppers and reprocess. Lastly, you might try xanthan gum as a thickener. I hope this helps.

Mike, thanks for the overview and the details for making either a fresh or a fermented sauce. I have bunch of ripe red peppers from my garden (Early Flame and Jalafuego jalapenos and some red Anaheims). I think I will follow the more authentic/traditional Fermented recipe, because I naturally read both.

Awesome recipe. I went the fermentation route as it seemed more authentic and I was in no rush. I fermented for about 12 days and it turned out perfect. I think I like it better than the store bought version! Anybody who likes Sriracha should give this a try because it's so easy, and if you don't have time to ferment, I'm sure the fresh version is just as good. Thanks Mike!

Dave, that's a fine substitution. Sauces with enough vinegar/acidity typically last 6 months out and 12 months in the fridge or longer. If you want to make them shelf stable very longer term storage, look into water bath preserving. It really should last a long time, though.

Question: how does one find unchlorinated water? Does filtering remove chlorine? Our system uses a form of chlorination that does not evaporate--an issue for those who keep fish tanks. I presume that distilled water does not have chlorine but also no flavor.

I want to try your sriracha recipe, however, here in Arizona we are between our spring and fall pepper seasons. The summer heat stops the process. However, I do have bags of dehydrated peppers. I'd like to try fermentation. Will the dried peppers work? Also I have lots of ground pepper powder. Would that work?

Learning from your recipes and watching your YouTube channel make me so happy! I have had beyond a crappy couple of days (some of the worst in my life actually) and coming home and cooking these wonderful recipes has been my pride and joy! I tried one of your hot sauces and what started as a depressing day put a smile one my face

Justine, the original is fermented. Fermentation offers a different flavor, but also probiotic benefits, provided you don't cook the sauce at the end. Making it with fresh peppers is much easier, delicious in its own way.

Tomorrow is day 7 of my fermentation. Today, I saw white dots on the top of the jar. Mold? I managed to remove most of it. I don't have a proper kit. I used a plastic lid and a bag of water to hold it down. It still smells and tastes great. Should I start processing with the vinegar, et al, immediately?

Oh, YIKES, Haleigh. Sorry to hear! Well, if it all exploded, you could potentially wash off the chilies really good and use them, but I couldn't continue to ferment, and would really watch out for glass pieces. UGH, sorry!

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