Why You've Probably Never Tasted The Original Sriracha

We all have food associations we make in our heads. We think of hot dogs as distinctly American, fried green tomatoes as inherently Southern, and you'll likely envision the iconic green-capped bottle with the rooster emblem on the front when you think of the original sriracha. It's what sits in most of our cupboards and has earned a spot on many Asian restaurant tables, after all. But what these assumptions all have in common is that they're not always correct or rooted in fact. 

A little sleuthing will tell you: It's not the well-known Huy Fong Foods brand of sriracha that kicked off the spicy condiment craze, but its lesser-known predecessor, Sriraja Panich, that put the flavorful Thai pepper sauce on the map first, stemming from a generations-old family recipe. While it was first, it didn't enjoy the wave of commercial success in the states that better-known, later brands did, so you've likely never tried the OG sauce.

Those wanting to get a taste of the first sriracha though, can do so, as the sauce has been imported all over the world to upwards of 50 countries. In the U.S., you'll most often see it on shelves in specialty Asian food stores. And, while the Huy Fong Foods brand of sriracha weathers a serious nationwide shortage, now might be the time to seek out an alternate brand to quench your spicy sauce cravings for your noodle dishes, your instant ramen, or anything else you might drown with sriracha.

The original sriracha sauce originated in Thailand over 80 years ago, when a woman named Thanom Chakkapak began making a family recipe that combined a spectrum of flavors — heat, saltiness, sweetness, and sourness — made to perfectly complement the seafood dinners her family enjoyed.

The hype spread from just their family, as the sauce's popularity quickly caught on around Thailand. In fact, Chakkapak named the sauce after the town she lived in, the Si Racha district, located in the Chon Buri province of Thailand. In the 1980s, the family company was acquired by a large Thai food company, Thaitheparos, which then took the sauce international. However, it was David Tran, an admirer of the original sauce, who put his own spin on it, bottled the sauce, and launched it under the Huy Fong Foods name.

And it was Tran's sauce that took off like wildfire in the U.S. — more or less dominating the sriracha shelf space and becoming the household brand it is today — over the original. Today, our American tastebuds are used to this version, which has made it a challenge for Sriraja Panich to make the same splash in retailers.

Undoubtedly, all sriracha is good sriracha, but that's not to say it's all the same from a flavor profile perspective. In fact, one of the differentiating features that set Sriraja Panich apart from the more readily available bottles in American supermarkets is its intentional balancing of four distinct flavors. Boasting a richness and tang, the sauce is carefully crafted using only the best roasted red goat peppers, a different base ingredient and heat source than the jalapeños the Huy Fong Foods brand uses (and currently can't source due to a drought in Mexico, hence the tragic shortage). Sriraja Panich blends these goat peppers with Thai garlic, sugar, sea salt, and vinegar for the signature robust taste that hits on notes of sour, sweet, spice, and salt, all at once.

Itching to try your own bottle of the original spicy goodness? If you can't find it in an Asian market near you, it's available to order on Amazon. Whether you're an extra serious sriracha lover or just a stickler for tracing foods back to their roots, finding the Sriraja Panich sauce is worth the hunt.