Sriracha Sauce

I used to get that in Calif, never see it over here.
But do you have any Vietnamese food around there? 

gobot wrote:

I used to get that in Calif, never see it over here.
But do you have any Vietnamese food around there? 

Pretty sure I saw it at Annam Gourmet,
18 Hai Bà Trưng, District 1.

Also, next time you are in Vũng Tàu, they might still have some at Cửa Hàng Linh Phương ("supermarket"), 86 Trần Hưng Đạo or at Q-Mart, H25B Phan Huy Chú, though I think the supplies at both places are running low, since they aren't getting resupplied often from the United States.

There are a number of listings for Vietnamese restaurants here on the Gulf Coast (many Vietnamese people here due to seafood industry) but my one experience so far was less than thrilling.

About $10 USD for a bowl of phổ with plenty of lean beef, but "doughy" noodles that looked like square bún, probably the best choice they could come up with on a pasta machine.

It not only didn't taste right but it just didn't feel right in my mouth.

I've been looking at all of the Google Maps reviews for places nearby, and I'm discouraged by the high prices and the reviews that say that the food is good, but doesn't taste like authentic Vietnamese food.

I have yet to see bánh mì advertised for less than $5.00 (all the VN restaurants hawk them as "Vietnamese Po' Boys").

In a couple of the local reviews I have seen responses from the owners of the restaurants saying that they don't really cook traditional Vietnamese food but rather, they serve "American-style Vietnam food".

I was spoiled by some great food in Việt Nam, especially the delicious cuisine served by my former landlady in Vũng Tàu.

It is possible that the only place on can find good Vietnamese food in the US is in Honolulu.  One reason is that most all the vegetables are grown here, most of the fruits too but some can be rare.  Another is that markets import dry items like noodles, rice paper, and coffee from Vietnam.  One other important reason is that their Vietnamese customers would not tolerate inauthentic tasting dishes.  I am sure a real Vietnamese connoisseur could tell the difference but I can't.  My wife says she can cook better at home but she said that in HCM as well.  The problem here is the pricing.   A bowl of pho or bun bo is $15 and up.      The only thing that I can see that has been Americanized is the portion size.  The normal bowl in Vietnam is the small in Hawaii.

By the way, Huy Fong is the universally preferred hot sauce in Hawaii.  I only saw it once in Big C in HCM and it was pricey.  I wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard someone in the US call it Thai hot sauce, but the owner is a Vietnamese American named Tran.  The Chinese name is the name of the ship that he escaped on in the 70's.  It is actually better than any Tuong Ot that I ever had in Vietnam, some of which seemed like they were made with chemicals.  Huy Fong is made in the best California pepper growing regions, East of LA.  As no artificial colors are used, possibly unlike the Vietnamese products, the colors may differ between batches.

THIGV wrote:

It is possible that the only place on can find good Vietnamese food in the US is in Honolulu.  One reason is that most all the vegetables are grown here, most of the fruits too but some can be rare.  Another is that markets import dry items like noodles, rice paper, and coffee from Vietnam.  One other important reason is that their Vietnamese customers would not tolerate inauthentic tasting dishes.  I am sure a real Vietnamese connoisseur could tell the difference but I can't.  My wife says she can cook better at home but she said that in HCM as well.  The problem here is the pricing.   A bowl of pho or bun bo is $15 and up.      The only thing that I can see that has been Americanized is the portion size.  The normal bowl in Vietnam is the small in Hawaii.

By the way, Huy Fong is the universally preferred hot sauce in Hawaii.  I only aw it once in Big C and it was pricey.  I wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard someone call it Thai hot sauce, but the owner is a Vietnamese American named Tran.  Actually better than any Tuong Ot that I ever had in Vietnam, some of which seemed like they were made with chemicals.  Huy Fong is made in the heart of the California growing region for peppers and a one day truck ride from Gilroy, know as the world garlic capital.  All fresh ingredients.

They call it "Thai hot sauce" because, as good as it is, it's not the original sriracha sauce:

bonappetit.com/trends/article/the-original-sriracha

The most authentic Vietnamese food I've ever had in America was in Westminster, California: "Little Saigon"

Perhaps Sriracha is a secondary marketing name for Tran.  Notice that the bottle must have about 6 languages.   The man is a real marketer which is why his story has been retold so many times in the US press.   Tran's family was in the hot sauce business in Vietnam and I have read that he imported his recipe from his parents' business.  My opinion is the reverse of what you note.  It is not really Thai Sriracha because it is really Vietnamese Tuong Ot.  The main distinction from sauces in Vietnam is that his sauce is made with jalapeno peppers.  Remember too that peppers are part of what botanists call the Great Columbian Shift.  Before maybe the late 1490's or early 1500's, there were no chili peppers in Asia.  The impact on Asian cooking has been immense.  Imagine much blander Vietnamese and Thai food, no Sichuan cooking in China and Korean Kim Chee would be just salted cabbage.   Japanese food would be about as it is today, bland.

I expect the food in Westminster is good too as the Vietnamese population is huge, but I have heard California residents say that Hawaii has items that they don't have in California, particularly fruits which can't be imported due to California's strict laws on the fruit flies.  Even in Hawaii, I expect that many of the seeds came here surreptitiously in someone's luggage.

I have never had any problem finding Sriracha sauce anywhere in Vietnam. Quite surprising to hear some have.

Diazo wrote:

I have never had any problem finding Sriracha sauce anywhere in Vietnam. Quite surprising to hear some have.

What brand?

The bottle with the image of a rooster is from David Tran's American company Huy Fong Foods.  The rooster represents his birth year (Ất Dậu, or 1945.)  The sauce was first sold in California in 1982.  No trademark was registered.

The bottle with the image of a woman carrying a tray of food is from Thailand.  The exact year it first produced is the stuff of family lore, but the family sold the name (recipe is not a secret) to a food company in 1983.

I cringe every time I hear the TV Commercial call this "SIR RACHA Hot Sauce" with a West Texas accent. it is pronounced like 'Seedacha' in Thailand.  Rumor is, He and his family stayed in the refugee camp in Sirracha Town, Thailand for processing for awhile, where he net the cook  - note Thai has no R sounds, they come out roughly sounding like D's.
https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/h … cha-origin

One puzzling thing that I never realized until reading, stimulated by this thread, is that Huy Fong brand sauce is sold almost everywhere with a green cap (as in OB's photo) which is supposed to mimic the green stem of a freshly picked red pepper.  What is curious is that every bottle sold in Hawaii has a red cap.  I am starting to wonder if a slightly different recipe is used for sale in Hawaii and the red cap is a way to not mix them up with lots destined for mainland sales.      

Of course depending on which city you reside in, you may not be able (or willing) to run down to the supermarket to look just now, but does anyone who has seen or bought this brand in Vietnam recall what color the cap was?

THIGV wrote:

What is curious is that every bottle sold in Hawaii has a red cap.  I am starting to wonder if a slightly different recipe is used for sale in Hawaii and the red cap is a way to not mix them up with lots destined for mainland sales.      

Of course depending on which city you reside in, you may not be able (or willing) to run down to the supermarket to look just now, but does anyone who has seen or bought this brand in Vietnam recall what color the cap was?

I don't eat or buy chili sauce of any kind, but Vietnamese online newspapers show many photos of  "tương ớt con gà trống" (chili sauce with rooster image) being sold in Vietnam (50k bottles, IIRC).  Some photo credits go to US media, some to Vietnamese media in the US, and some to Vietnamese media in Vietnam.  All bottles have green cap.

Can you post a photo of the bottle in HI with red cap?

I stand corrected. Checked my bottle, and although it looks vaguely similar it is not. Red cap and sold by cholimex. I thought at some point we had bought some with the rooster logo, but perhaps not.

Diazo wrote:

I stand corrected. Checked my bottle, and although it looks vaguely similar it is not. Red cap and sold by cholimex. I thought at some point we had bought some with the rooster logo, but perhaps not.

Yeah, I used to buy that a lot at Lotte Mart and Mega Market.

Ciambella wrote:

Can you post a photo of the bottle in HI with red cap?

I checked the bottle in our refrigerator and it has a green cap.  I am sure that I have seen bottles with red caps but now I suspect that the difference was chronological rather than geographical.   

THIGV wrote:

Ciambella wrote:

Can you post a photo of the bottle in HI with red cap?

I checked the bottle in our refrigerator and it has a green cap.  I am sure that I have seen bottles with red caps but now I suspect that the difference was chronological rather than geographical.   

I suspect an imposter...

They say there's a shortage in the peppers that they use in sriracha so they price have been going up from around $3.50 to now $7.50 at a couple of stores I've found them in. Some stores like 99 Ranch for a while only limit 1 bottle per customer and you have to ask for it at the counter. They've relaxed that policy but price still hasn't gone back down.