Have you ever wondered how to make Sriracha? (a.k.a Rooster sauce) Hailing from Thailand, Sriracha has become America’s 2nd favorite condiment. Here’s how to make your own sriracha sauce at home.
All you need is some red jalapeno peppers (or other red hot peppers), brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt & time.
Did you know there’s a Sriracha shortage? Yes, as of the time of this writing, it’s true. If you’re a Sriracha lover, what to do? Well, there are the options presented here – sure you could try another brand of Sriracha or a different hot sauce. But if you’re seriously addicted to that sweet hot garlicky Sriracha flavor and you can’t find that familiar bottle on the shelf. Climate change is making it more and more likely that this popular brand may remain scarce as well.
Make Sriracha at Home
BUT, if you happen to have some hot peppers on hand, you can take matters in to your own hands. In just 5 days you can quickly whip up your own homemade Sriracha. If you’re really in a hurry, you can skip the fermentation cycle like Cooking Light did, but you guys, fermenting is super easy and it’s SO good for your gut! Trust me, you really can’t screw this up. And what better gift for a Sriracha-loving friend than a jar of homemade Sriracha.
Purists insist that you must use red jalapeno peppers for the true flavor of Sriracha, and I’ve read that jalapenos DO result in the most authentic tasting Sriracha. I used mostly red jalapenos in my recipe, but I didn’t have quite enough, so I added a couple salsa peppers. But then, because our salsa peppers are REALLY hot this year, I decided I better tone it down. So I threw in part of a red bell pepper to round out my full pound of peppers.
I love how my homemade Sriracha tastes! I compared it side by side to Huy Fong Sriracha. And I think my homemade Sriracha tastes a little fresher and less salty than my favorite brand. But other than that, it’s got about the same level of heat, very similar texture and that wonderful garlicky flavor. Plus it’s got probiotics that I know are going to make my gut happy.
For equipment: you don’t need much: a quart-sized glass jar, a good blender and, if you want to strain it, a food sieve or food mill. You want a jar that is significantly larger to allow for expansion as the sauce ferments.
Adapted slightly from Cooking Light and Happy Foodie.
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Homemade Sriracha (Rooster Sauce)
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 5 – 7 days
- Yield: SO many servings!
- Category: Condiments
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 lb. red jalapenos, seeds and stems removed (weighed after removing seeds and tops – salsa, serrano or other hot peppers can substitute for some of the jalapenos. Also, to tone down the heat, you can use part red bell pepper)
- 1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves (about 1 1/2 – 2 heads of garlic)
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon canning & pickling salt or sea salt (NOT iodized salt)
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup water
- 3 – 4 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
- 3/8 – 1/2 cup apple or rice vinegar
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse together the peppers, garlic, sugar, salt & water. Put in a wide-mouthed quart glass jar and cover loosely with a plastic lid. I simply set a lid on top of it.
- Put in a dark place and let sit for 3 – 7 days or until good and bubbly. Check it every couple days and give it a little stir. (If any mold appears on top, remove the mold before stirring.)
- After the mixture has fermented, blend the pepper mixture in a blender with the fish sauce and vinegar until completely smooth. Try to blend it so much that no seeds or chunks of skin remain. Taste and add more fish sauce if desired.
- Store in a jar in the refrigerator and enjoy on seafood, burgers, eggs, nachos, and just about everything. Will keep for months.
Notes
OPTIONAL: If you like, you can strain out any seeds or unwanted pulp by pushing it through a fine sieve or food mill after step 3. This will result in a thinner sauce. So at that point, to reduce it to the desired thickness, you can cook it in a saucepan on the stovetop until reduced to the right thickness. Keep in mind the cooking will kill the good bacteria from the fermentation.
If you do NOT strain the sauce (like me), a squirt bottle might not work with this sauce, but you’ll have a nice, thick consistency sauce very similar to the Huy Fong brand, but with real probiotics at work. Use a small spoon to drizzle it on instead of a squirt bottle which may get clogged.
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Sriracha, Hot sauce, Thai
4 comments
Can this be preserved in jars?
Hello Lisa,
I haven’t tried that, but I think you absolutely could preserve this in jars. You’ll want to kill off the fermentation by cooking it first so that pressure doesn’t build up in the jars over time. Then you could can it in a water bath or pressure cooker.
Have fun!
Ann
I’m sure its a great recipe, but I’m very concerned that you say to scrape mold off before stirring. That’s a serious health hazard. Any signs of mold whatsoever then the entire batch has to be tossed. Signs of yeast growth are different and safe to scrape off and continue to use.
Hi Dave,
I appreciate your comments, but first of all, sometimes what you think is mold may actually be yeast, and secondly, you can often discard the moldy part and still have great results. This article says the same. Of course, if you want to err on the side of caution and throw the whole batch away on the odd chance that you get mold, then go for it. Mold is rare in fermentations, but it does occasionally happen.
Thanks for your concern,
Ann