Twitter got me into some big trouble. Last week, I innocently twittered a photograph of some Vietnamese condiments for a Viet Nhậu (tapas) party we were having for one of our Supper Club Dinners. In that picture, there were some yummy, traditional Vietnamese toppings of scallion oil confit, fried crispy shallots and many more goodies I prepared for the evenings feast. But I never thought a simple Twitter mention of “homemade sriracha hot sauce” would cause such a commotion, create incessant demands for the recipe, and getting all the love and attention over the other toppings. I knew Sriracha style hot sauce was popular, but a cult following? Never.
So yes, that’s what I’ll call it from now on, Cult Sriracha.
When I first made this sauce a while back, I asked myself: What makes Huy Fong’s Sriracha, this ubiquitous Asian, cock-labeled chili sauce so popular? It’s just a chili condiment in a squirt bottle for god sakes and there’s a gazillion different brands out there on the market. But I myself, can confess to squeezing the dickens out of this bottle of orange/reddish gold goodness. It’s like a prized commodity when it hits the palate and gives incredible sensations of heat, sweet and tang. Sriracha has the perfect balance of all flavors: delicate spice combined with sweet and garlicky tangy undertones that make it perfect in almost any dish.
Huy Fong’s Sriracha isn’t too spicy to where it will cause beads of sweat to roll down one’s face, nor is it claiming to be “hotter than a motha” and attempt to cause a brain concussion. Neither is it trying to break records with the million scoville scale mark, nor is it trying to keep you on the toilet for the entire morning after.
Being the fresh sauce addict that I am and loving to create outside the bottle, I wanted to re-create the theme of Sriracha in my own kitchen and customize the spice/sweet/tang layers to my own preferences. I can take a little more heat than most and I wanted to raise the spicy bar in the sauce to accommodate not just my own taste buds, but also for my chili loving friends. Give me more spice in my hot sauce and I’ll be a very, very good girl.
YOU MUST MAKE THIS!! This is not only so easy, it’s so fresh tasting from all the fresh chilies! I was able to find the right balance of the sugar, vinegar and spice, all blended together to get the smooth, hot sauce consistency. Unlike some other chili sauces with the seeds and peels still coarsely evident, I used tomato sauce as the base to help blend the sauce together and keep it more like the Sriracha consistency.
It’s smooth, pretty and delicious. This homemade chili sauce sings sweet and spicy songs in your mouth, while being kind to your body with the perfect amount of heat.
As with any recipe, you can tailor this to your own palate to create your own version of the sauce. I know some folks like their hot sauce to counter balance the heat with a little more sugar and some like more of the vinegary tang. Go for it and customize all those balancing elements to your body’s tolerance. Personally, I’ve added a touch (just a slight “Diane spicy style” touch) to my version for that extra little kick of heat.
Last but not least, please don’t skimp out on any of the ingredients, especially the fish sauce. The fish sauce adds the savory, salty and umami depth to this recipe. With out the fish sauce, this chili hot sauce doesn’t have the exciting umami layer of flavor that I can taste in the original Sriracha. For vegetarians, you can replace the fish sauce with a soy sauce.
All of the listed ingredients come together beautifully to harmonize the flavor and texture of this hot sauce and without them, I wouldn’t dare call it “Sriracha style”.
Hope this rocks your spicy hot sauce world!
-Diane
Print This RecipeChili Hot Sauce Recipe – Sriracha style
*note: this recipe all varies depending on the chili’s (red jalapenos, habanero’s, etc…). Every chili pepper has a different heat level, so you must be the judge of the amount of spice you prefer. Start your first batch with smaller chili pepper quantities to familiarize yourself with the heat level of your chili peppers.
Ingredients:
1 c thai red chili peppers (about 100 grams). *Start with less (about half) if you want a more mild, gentle hot sauce
4-5 med. cloves of Garlic (crushed or minced)
2 med Shallots (minced)
1 T Vegetable Oil
2 – 8 oz. (or 1- 15 oz.) can of Tomato Sauce
1 T Fish Sauce (don’t skimp out on this!) or use Soy Sauce (for vegetarians. But if you can, try to use the Fish Sauce.
3 T Rice Vinegar
3 T Sugar
1. Remove stems of chili peppers, rinse clean. Blot dry with paper towel. Wearing rubber gloves, mince the chili peppers. The smaller the cut, the smoother your final sauce will be.
2. In sauce pan, heat oil then add minced garlic and shallots. Over medium-high heat saute for a about 1 minute or until light brown and fragrant. (don’t burn your garlic!)
3. Add tomato sauce and minced chili peppers. Let sauce come to a simmer then lower heat to keep at a low simmer. Add fish sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Mix well.
4. Continue simmering sauce for about 5 minutes. This will break down the chili peppers and soften them to create the smooth consistency.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
6. Transfer sauce to blender and blend till smooth or until most of the chili pepper skin and seeds break down- preferably on the “liquefy” mode.
7. Taste the hot sauce. Further customize the hot sauce to your liking: add more sugar, vinegar or water. Blend one last time till smooth. Pour into clean, air tight jar and refrigerate. Use within about 1 week.
*These cute Weck jars were given to me by Denise, of Chez Us. Thanks Denise!
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{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
My mouth is watering, your creation looks delicious. Can’t wait to give it a try!
I have always wanted to make my own, this is great, appreciate the recipe.
LL
oh they only last a week?! i’m going to have to make this as divvy out as gifts for all the cookouts i’m going to just this month alone.
thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s pretty ingenious.
Although I’m Italian, I got turned on to the wonders of sriracha sauce when I had a vietnamese room mate. We would make the simplest soups and add the sauce and go crazy eating it up. I remember one rainy california winter, and we were never sick. We swore the soup kept us in good health. Ever since then, it’s just as important to me as my olive oil. Never thought of making my own. What a great idea!
You have made my day! Now I can make my own Sriracha, from my own homegrown chilies instead of buying it! Fun and delicious! YES.
I would never have thought to make my own Sriracha, but now that I know…!
count me in on the Sriracha cult. This summer, when the fresh chilis are pouring off the farm stand, I definitely want to try this!
What an easy and simple recipe for such a versatile sauce. It inspires me to try and make my own once I have a free night.
I have been meaning to try to (make some time) make some hot sauces. Oh, I am going to have to try this out for sure as a certain someone likes it HOT HOT HOT! I love that you used Weck jars as well … they are my favs, so very European!
ps…. I have not been getting newsletters – I just signed up again.
Thank you very much, I believe I was one of those annoying people on Twitter asking for the recipe
Damn, I am all over this. I actually have a huge bag of those chilis I bought on impulse. Now, I have something to use them for. =)
I love making fresh versions of hot sauces, and this looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it.
Thank you so much for the inspiration to make my own. I can’t find any sriracha in my town that doesn’t have preservatives. I live in a So Cal city with a 3 health food stores, 2 asian groceries and a fancy food market. I have to let the purity thing go when eating out, but for my home I don’t like to buy it. So excited to make it.
OK, I would never sirracha “delicate spice”! that stuff kills me everytime! Lovely photos.. no wait, not lovely – STUNNING. Love the pics of this evil sauce in the jars.
Amazing! darn!! wish we knew this recipe for the barbecue to use in our nem nuong sliders! We have bags of homegrown super hot chilipeppers from her relatives so can’t wait to try this. Thanks!
The pictures are simply stunning and the recipe…well…already in the file to try soon. We are addicted to this sauce over here too!
Ooooh, how interesting. We never thought about making this before, but why not?
And the clouds opened up, and you could hear the angels singing from the heavens! Okay, maybe over-dramatic, but this is awesome!
Oh, you brilliant, brilliant woman. This is life-changingly exciting. Cannot wait to try this out! Thanks so much.
yuum…home-made is always better! We have a garden full of chili pepper plants (I believe most Viet families do haha) so my Mom’s always making different chili sauces, or “tuong ots”. She makes tuong ot from dried chilis too…it’s pretty good in its own way…tastes more like the “sate” kind. We store them in jars as big as yours and finish each jar off in about a week. It’s funny and a bit sad how we’ve come to put them in EVERYTHING.
simply amazing!!!
We just made this recipe last night and posted about it. Thanks so much–it tastes great!!
I’ve been a quiet lurker for a little while now, and I have to say, not only are you two one of the cutest couples ever, but your dishes, photography and write ups are a joy to ‘virtually’ take part in. I must have bookmarked dozens of your recipes by now. You’re both definitely an inspiration in so many areas! Thanks for providing the blogging world with such fun, creativity, and SALIVATING!!
now i want to try, though i don’t handle too much heat, very well. i must try b/c of all the rave! lovely pics.
Ok, I really did make a version of this on Saturday before I ever saw this post. It’ll hit my blog in another 2 days. But I’m not being a copycat, really!
Actually I think my recipe is quite different from yours, but now that I’ve seen yours I’m inspired to make several different versions.
Skimp on the fish sauce? I wouldn’t dream of it!
I didn’t think homemade sriracha would be so easy! Thanks for the recipe!
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with beads of sweat rolling, hee
Diane,
This looks great. I will have to plant chili peppers as well as tomatoes this summer so I can make this with my own stuff!
I love this sauce! Sounds quite straightforward and easy! THanks for sharing.
I grow thai chili peppers every year and usually end up drying them because I do not have enough uses for them. This is an awesome suggestion and had I been following you on Twitter (I am now) I would have been begging you for the recipe too.
I’m a Sriracha addict, and also can take the heat, so customizing my own sauce is definitely something I want to try. Thanks for the recipe. I’m off to the Asian market for Thai chiles!
I know this is “supposed” to be a condiment for Asian food, but I’d love to pair it with some of my TexMex, MexTex, and Interior Mexican food dishes as well. I’ve always wondered how I might make Sriracha, and now I have a place to start.
Sort of off topic, but not really, what kind of fish sauce do you use?
I assume you saw this article in today’s New York Times about the genesis in America of the much loved sriracha sauce: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dining/20united.html?ref=dining
You’ve got me hooked! I love sriracha, though I fear I’m hopelessly Western in my application of it — I often mix it with mayo.
Sirachi isn’t hot to you? Holy cow – it kills me on sushi and in pho! I only use a tiny bit! My boys would love this tho – may have to try it!
“a more mild, gentle hot sauce”
*does not compute*
Bring on the Thai chiles. YUM. Thanks for posting this.
Note to self: Must make.
Fantastic!
cult is correct! i even tweeted about your post, but forgot to come & comment…shame on me! i’ll make it up by making it the veg way
this family is part of that sriracha cult…my mouth is watering just looking at this post!
This is fantastic, Diane!! I have been thinking about a homemade srirachi sauce, and here you have nailed it! It looks perfect!
The photos are just gorgeous!! I can’t wait to try it out.
Thank you!!!
~ Paula
As I mentioned on Andrea Nguyen’s site who btw is also featuring Siriacha, my favorite non-Viet way to use siriacha is for Bloody Mary drinks. Your version looks beautiful and so very fresh.
Wow, I have never thought of making Siriahca. What a great idea. I use Siriahca is almost everything but my oatmeal cookies these days. Yum. Beautiful pictures! I love the contrast of the green, brown and red. Very nice. Have a great weekend filled with food and fun!
Dana Zia
The sauce looks amazing! You know what’s really sad? I’ve been living in Sriracha for almost a year now, and haven’t seen Sriracha Sauce anywhere in town… it’s a myth!
This looks beautiful…I just wish it lasted a little longer in the fridge. Does it really degrade so quickly?
Thanks for all of the shared excitement over our little spicy kick. Answering those who are concerned about the lasting capacity of the sauce, it usually always does last much longer than a week, although some batches have developed mold after about two weeks. Other batches have lasted much longer and the taste changes a bit over time, but not really deteriorating.
Denise-Yeah. The site moved locations and messed up the feeds. We fixed one problem, but some might still need to re-subscribe. Sorry about that.
Pam- We have a few different brands we use for fish sauce, depending on it’s intended purpose. The one we use the most is Phu Quoc “Flying Lion Brand.”
Thanks for all the spicy love everyone.
Great recipe! Another idea if you want a really smooth sauce, after pureeing it – pass it through a chinois.
Yea – I always buy the big rooster squirt bottle and now I’m very excited to make my own sriracha. Now, about this scallion oil confit…
I’m going to make this today!
This sauce reminded me of Hainan Chicken Rice. I sure missed dipping the chicken in it! I’d been looking around for this Sriracha sauce for cooking of Thai’s Red Curry recipe for some time now. I can’t find the recipe for this paste. Thank you for sharing this info!
Loved the recipe. I used all fresh ingredients from our garden,even the garlic. After making it once using your recipe,I tweeked it a little for my own tastes. I upped the garlic and omitted two Table spoons of sugar and replaced with a whole red bell pepper. Was perfect for my own tastes,sweet as well and the color was more red and less orange. Thanks again for giving us the basics to making this addiction at home.
Bookmarked this recipe months ago. Waited until I could get fresh-off-the-vine red Thai chilies. Stirred it up as directed. Seasoned the pureed final product to my taste with more vinegar, fish sauce, and sugar. And voila… it turned out fantastic. So simple yet so delicious! Thanks for posting this recipe.
Neel – glad it turned out well for you. I like that you added more vinegar and fish sauce!
I love your Sriracha recipe. I must confess, I’m an addict for the stuff too.
I have my own wing sauce that I make with Sriracha, Soy Sauce, black pepper. It is an outstanding flavor that is not too hot, with just enough kick and a touch of Asian flavor.
Regards,
Rob
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Thanks for the inspiration on this one. I made a slight variation this afternoon and it was great. I doubled the garlic and instead of tomatoes I used roasted red bell and long peppers. I also added a dollop of shrimp paste.
I am going to try and can this when the peppers come into season. Will let you know how it works out.
Why didnt you blend the sauce while it was hot:
blending hot makes smoother sauce.
I am sure of this.
Not worth the atomic scald! Plus this is a sauce which is we don’t need particularly smooth. The touch of texture is nice.
I recently found your site, it’s wonderful. Question though. I found 2 different recipes for Vietnamese style carrot and daikon pickles. One calls for 3 C water and 3 T vinegar and the other calls for 1 C water and 1 C vinegar. Are these correct quantities for the individual recipes? The one doesn’t seem to have enough vinegar. I really want to try these but want to make sure I make them correctly. Thanks
They are just two diff styles. The first we wrote is our home recipe, the second is one we liked out of a cookbook. Try small batches of each and see which you like better or adjust to your own taste. That’s what we do.
I just made this sauce. I is so delicious. I did make a few changes. I could not find Thai red chilies so I just used a mixture of some other red chili peppers, jalapenos and serrano chilies. Also, I added a whole lot more garlic. This was so fantastic that my husband was eating it like crazy and he usually doesn’t like things like this. You get a really nice sweet taste at first then you get hit with the most amazing spicy heat that is very addictive. We ate it last night with buffalo burgers and then today with spring rolls.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
we had no idea what to do with the beautiful chilies our neighbors gave us- until i remembered i’d bookmarked this recipe from so long ago! just finished and we LOVE it! great recipe (as usual!)!