Sriracha Sauce vs. Tabasco Sauce

Tabasco Sauce was the undisputed king of the hot sauce industry, starting in the late 19th century and continuing through the 20th. However, as people became interested in exploring more exotic and different food flavours, Sriracha sauce was discovered in Thailand and may now have replaced Tabasco sauce as the king on many tables around the world.

We’ll explore the backstories and ingredients of Tabasco and Sriracha sauces and find that, although their flavours are different, they may both have arrived at the perfect combination of ingredients needed to produce a winning hot sauce.

History of Tabasco Sauce

In 1868, an avid gardener and food lover, Edmund McIlhenny, was given seeds from the Capsicum frutescens pepper plant that had arrived from either Mexico or Central America.

He sowed the seeds in his garden on Avery Island in South Louisiana. The seeds sprouted, grew, and provided a bounty of red, spicy and flavourful peppers that McIlhenny became enamoured with. He soon went into the pepper sauce business. He named his produce “Tabasco”, which is a native Mexican word believed to mean “place where the soil is humid” or a “place of the coral and oyster shell”, both of which suited the growing conditions on Avery Island. He charged local grocers one US dollar apiece for bottles, and his new product captivated the local residents.

Mcilhenny obtained a patent for his unique sauce in 1870. By the turn of the century, Tabasco sauce was being sold throughout the US and was also becoming popular in Europe.

Sriracha Sauce is Named for Its Birthplace

In the 1940s, a woman named Thanom Chakkapak created her own dipping sauce to accompany the seafood served in her small restaurant in the seaside town of Si Racha, south of Bangkok. It’s said that Vietnamese tourists eating at the restaurant were taken with the sauce. They kept returning to eat at the restaurant and finally asked the restaurant owner for the recipe, which she supplied.

The tourists took the recipe back to Vietnam, where Sriracha sauce was an instant hit. They used it to flavour and spice up bowls of pho, banh-mi sandwiches, spring rolls, and other traditional Vietnamese foods. As Thais and Vietnamese began emigrating and travelling the world, they both brought the characteristic flavour of Sriracha sauce along with them, and the sauce soon captivated people all over the world.

The Recipe of Tabasco Sauce

Although the Tabasco and Sriracha sauces were born half a world apart, they share similar recipes.

Tabasco sauce’s reputation was based on the peppers’ flavours that McIlhenny grew many years ago on Avery Island. Today, most of the peppers used for Tabasco Sauce are grown in Africa, Central America, and South America.

The peppers are harvested when they reach a level of ripeness judged by attaining a particular shade of red. They are then ground into a mash with added salt and put into oak barrels, where the mash is aged for up to three years. It’s then strained and mixed with distilled vinegar. Ripe, red chilli peppers, salt and vinegar are the common ingredients in both Tabasco and Sriracha sauces.

Sriracha Sauce’s Recipe

Sriracha sauce takes a different approach than Tabasco. Thai cuisine traditionally tries to achieve a balance of flavours in every dish. Thai chefs use many ingredients to achieve this balance. Sriracha sauce uses this same culinary philosophy.

The basic ingredients of Sriracha are several varieties of Thai chilli peppers. The chillis are ground into a mash in the same manner as the Tabasco recipe. Then, sugar, water, salt, and a flavor enhancer, like monosodium glutamate is added. An acidity regulator like citric acid is also added. Soy and mustard may also be added to achieve the right flavour. Finally, potassium sorbate is added as a preservative.

Growing Popularity of Thai Flavors

Thai restaurants and cuisine have enjoyed astounding growth and popularity within the past thirty years or so. You generally can find at least one Thai restaurant in every medium-sized city around the world. But the love for original sriracha sauce goes beyond the boundaries of one type of cuisine.

Sriracha sauce is used as a condiment on many different types of foods. It livens up sandwiches and burgers. It’s used as an ingredient in a spicy salad dressing. It’s also used to add a depth of flavour to soups and stews.

Where Tabasco sauce once was the go-to hot sauce worldwide, Sriracha sauce, with its more complex flavours and fresher taste, is quickly beginning to outsell Tabasco in many areas.

If you want to elevate your cooking to a new level, keep a bottle of Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce handy in your kitchen. It can add an entirely new depth of flavour to your favourite recipes. Buy Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce today.