Last semester, I wrote a story on
the legal issues between the city of Irwindale, California and Huy Hong Foods,
Inc. According to the LA Times, the
hot sauce factory is now offering free tours so that Sriracha fans can smell
the notorious chile fumes themselves. Here is the story I wrote last December.
From Sriracha
vodka, to Sriracha lollipops, to Sriracha doughnuts and Sriracha burgers, it is
safe to say that the foodie world has found its new trend. Although the bright
crimson sauce already had a cult following, it was nothing compared to the hype
Sriracha has received over the last two months.
After
a lawsuit, threats of closure and a safety recall that will cause shipment
delays, Huy Fong Foods, Inc. has received enough publicity to inspire mass
hysteria amongst Sriracha lovers and eateries. This inevitably leads to social
media trends—in this case, #Srirachapocolypse on Twitter.
“I
think the lawsuit has made Sriracha more popular than ever,” said Los Angeles Times columnist Robin
Abcarian. “Both because of the publicity but also because people are worried
there could be a shortage if the factory has to close down for a while.”
Based
in Rosemead, Huy Fong Foods (the company that produces the green-capped,
rooster-embossed bottled product synonymous with Sriracha) was sued by the city
of Irwindale on October 28, just a day after the first-ever Sriracha Festival
in downtown Los Angeles.
Residents
of Irwindale had been complaining that the fumes emitted by the neighboring
factory were a public nuisance, causing burning eyes and throats, headaches and,
in some cases, heartburn. The city requested a restraining order that would
have immediately stopped production at Huy Fong Foods, but Judge Robert O’Brien
denied the request, calling it “edgy” and “radical.”
“We
recognize that not 100% of people are annoyed by this,” said June Ailin, an
attorney representing Irwindale, in an interview with the LA Times. “But it’s annoying to enough people. It’s a seasonal
issue, but when it’s going on, it’s quite intense.”
Huy
Fong Foods processes the chilies used to make Sriracha for only three months
out of the year. They were in the middle of a harvesting cycle at the time of
the complaint. Huy Fong Foods representative John R. Tate told the Times that a shut down would ruin the
delicate harvesting and processing cycle, as well as financially harm the
company.
By
the time of the court hearing at the end of November, Judge O’Brien ordered a
partial shut down of the company in order to stop any operations that may be the
cause of the offensive odors. Huy Hong Foods had already completed their chili
processing, so it seemed the mixing and bottling of the sauce could continue.
This, however, still leaves the fate of 2014’s batch of Sriracha in question.
“I
would like to see the factory stay open and residents to calm down. It’s not as
bad as people are making it out to be, people are just being petty,” said Cal
State Fullerton student and Irwindale resident Alexandria Hernandez in an
email. “Besides, the city is making so much money from the taxes from the
establishment and we are trying to get out of debt, so if people are worried
about the well being of the city, they need to just stop complaining.”
And the Sriracha
hype began.
A
single packet of Sriracha described as the “last packed of Sriracha ever made”
was posted on EBay for $10,000, news of Lollyphile’s Sriracha-bacon lollipop
circulated, UV Vodka came out with a Sriracha-flavored vodka and gourmet burger
chain Slater’s 50/50 created a Sriracha burger.
“I am not totally sure why the stuff is so
popular, but I think it has to do with the fact that it's pretty inexpensive
and is so good,” Abcarian said. “It combines sweet and hot with a kind of
smokiness that comes from the roasted chilies. A lot of other hot sauces are
just hot and vinegary—like Tabasco.”
So
I chose what I thought to be the most appealing foodie gimmick and stopped by
Slater’s in Lake Forest to try the Sriracha burger for myself. Toted as a
collaboration between Huy Hong Foods and Slater’s, the burger features a
Sriracha-seasoned 50/50 patty (which consists of equal amounts of bacon and
beef). The Sriracha burger also includes Sriracha-sautéed mushrooms, slices of
Sriracha-glazed bacon, Sriracha-garlic coleslaw, Sriracha mayonnaise and more
Sriracha drizzled over it all. The burger is rounded out with pepper jack
cheese and grilled onions. It also comes with two packets of Sriracha on the
side—and no, I did not have to pay $10,000 for them.
My
Sriracha burger arrived glowing a deep red-orange on my plate. I was warned
that the addition of bacon in the patty lends the meat a pinkish hue, no matter
how it was cooked. The Sriracha-infused mushrooms, bacon and Napa cabbage coleslaw
were delicious in and of themselves. And it was spicy, but not excessively
so—although, I did not feel the need to add extra Sriracha to my burger. It was
also slightly smoky and sweet, due to a honey glaze on the bacon. At $10.95, it
is definitely worth a try if you are a Sriracha fiend.
“The
owner…loves supporting different causes,” said manager Jody Rezner. “He thought
it would be a great way to support the company.”
When
asked what would happen if they ran out of the hot sauce, Rezner did not seem
worried—each Slater’s 50/50 location has ordered a four-month’s supply of
Sriracha. I asked kitchen manager Julissa Esquivel the same question, and she
too, was not fazed.
“We
have other sources to get the [Sriracha],” Esquivel said.
This
was an appeasing thought, as the latest update on the Huy Fong Foods lawsuit was
an order by the California Department of Public Health to stop all shipments of
their Sriracha to food distributors for a month. This means that the grocery
store shelf that normally holds a row of Sriracha bottles may be bare until
mid-January.
Anita Gore, a
health department spokeswoman, told the Associated Press that the order is
necessary to “ensure an effective treatment of microorganisms present in the
product.”
“I always
appreciate concern for people’s safety, but at what point does it become
overbearing?” Randy Clemens, author of The
Sriracha Cookbook, said to The Christian Science Monitor. “The timing is rather
strange, and it does seem crippling, the way this thriving business that’s been
going for 33 years can be more or less shut down and have its brand damaged.”
But as of now, it does not
seem that Huy Fong Foods has to worry about a ruined image. On the night before
the California Department of Public Health mandated a hold on further
hot sauce shipments,
indie filmmaker Griffin Hammond released a 33-minute documentary online about
the origins of Sriracha as well as an inside look at Huy Hong Foods. Featuring
plenty of testimonials from the crazed Sriracha cult, it is apparent that the
company has plenty of supporters.
“I think the recent legal troubles have shined an increasingly bright light
on the Huy Fong Foods version of the sauce,” said LA Times writer Jenn Harris in an email. “But…I don't think people's
love for Sriracha will fizzle any time soon. There are people who put it on
everything and will continue to do so after the legal troubles have been
resolved.”
So what can we do as we
witness the fluorescent red and green bottles slowly disappear from store
shelves over the next few weeks? As Esquivel said, we have other sources of
Sriracha—which made me realize: the extra packets of hot sauce I received with
my burger at Slater’s did not come from Huy Fong Foods at all. And neither did
the $10,000 packet of Sriracha on EBay. In fact, Huy Fong Foods does not
produce individual packets of their famous condiment. It is Spice World
International Group, based in the City of Industry, that distributes the
packets of Sriracha you will most likely encounter.
Naturally, I decided to
conduct a taste test between Spice World International Group’s Sriracha and Huy
Fong Foods’ Sriracha, which was conveniently waiting for me in my refrigerator.
I found that they did not taste the same, and I have to admit that I am partial
to Huy Fong’s Sriracha. But when we are facing #Srirachapocolypse, beggars
cannot be choosers.
If you happen to find
yourself in dire need of a Sriracha fix, your local Trader Joe’s carries their
own version of the sauce for $2.99 per bottle. But if you want to try a more
gourmet version, Brooklyn-based Love of JoJo, Inc. produces Jojo’s Sriracha in small, hand-made batches for $14
per jar.
And if all this talk of
Sriracha has you itching to cook with the rest of your Sriracha stash, plenty
of websites have a variety of recipe ideas—including sweet-and-spicy cocktail almonds, Sriracha tuna tartare, Sriracha gazpacho
and Sriracha mac n’ cheese. Or take the
easy route and stuff your Christmas stockings with Sriracha candy canes,
because although Sriracha may be here to stay, hot sauce candy canes will
hopefully be a thing of the past.
“I don't think that Sriracha is a ‘trend,’” said Abcarian. “I kind of think it will have a permanent place
in the public imagination—kind of like Spam does. I really think it's here to
stay, because it's a staple of so many larders.”
Salted Sriracha Truffles (Yield: about 16 truffles)
Ingredients
1-1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. heavy whipping cream
4 tsp. Sriracha
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. cocoa powder*
- Place the chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl and set it aside.
- Heat the heavy whipping cream in a small sauce pot over medium-high heat until bubbles begin to form at the edges of the pot and the cream comes to simmer.
- Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for five to seven minutes.
- Uncover the bowl, setting the plastic wrap aside, and gently stir the chocolate chips until they have all melted and the mixture is smooth. If some nuggets of chocolate remain, put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir the chocolate again.
- At this point, you have a perfectly delicious ganache that can be refrigerated as is to make truffles. But to make Salted Sriracha Truffles, mix in the kosher salt and as much Sriracha as your taste buds can handle and stir until combined. For me, this was four teaspoons of hot sauce. I did notice, however, that the flavor and heat of the Sriracha intensifies after the mixture has been refrigerated. (If you choose not to make Sriracha-flavored truffles, you could replace the hot sauce with a teaspoon of vanilla extract.)
- Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap once more and refrigerate it for two to two and a half hours. The chocolate will be firm but still pliable.
- Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment or wax paper. With a small ice cream scoop or a melon baller, spoon out the hardened chocolate ganache, leaving a little bit of space between each ball of chocolate. You’ll notice that as the mixture sits at room temperature, it will begin to soften slightly. It will need to be chilled again before you can handle the chocolate with your hands, so place the baking sheet back in the refrigerator for another hour.
- Take the baking sheet out of the refrigerator. Place the cocoa powder in a small shallow bowl. Roll each scoop of chocolate in the cocoa and then in between your hands. The goal is to have a spherical truffle, but I am a firm believer in chocolate truffles resembling their fungous counterparts, so there’s no need to strive for perfection. If you want a thicker, more monochromatic coating of cocoa, roll the truffle in the cocoa one more time. Set the truffle on wax paper or in a paper candy cup. Repeat for each truffle. If the truffles won’t be eaten immediately, store them in the refrigerator, but let them come to room temperature before devouring them.
*I used a dark chocolate blend of cocoa powder that was a
combination of natural and Dutch-processed cocoa powders. It does not matter
what type of cocoa powder you use to roll your truffles in, but it will affect
the color of your truffles. Dutch-processed
cocoa tends to be a darker shade of brown than the standard natural cocoa
powder. You can use whatever you prefer or have on hand. You can even roll half
of your truffles in Dutch-processed cocoa and the other half in natural cocoa
for a pretty variety of colors.
