Difference Between Sriracha vs Hot Sauce

The world has fallen in love with spicy sauces, and bottles of Sriracha sauce and hot sauce are becoming a common sight on the tables of homes and restaurants in many countries. Both sauces add a fiery kick to dishes and enhance their flavours. People tend to find a sauce they like and stick with it, defending their choice against all others. The issue has evolved into a Sriracha vs hot sauce battle.

We’ll play peacemaker and explain how the differences between sriracha hot sauces and all the other sauces put the two in almost different categories, making it much like comparing apples and oranges.

Origin and History

Hot sauce is a broad term encompassing a diverse range of sauces made from chilli peppers and other ingredients. It has a history dating back centuries, with different types of hot sauces found in various cuisines around the world.

The chilli pepper was native to South and Central America and was believed to have been first cultivated by the ancient people of Mexico. Through trade, chilli peppers spread throughout the world, and the world developed their ongoing love of heat and spice.

Sriracha hot sauce has a much more recent origin and history. Named after the town of Si Racha on the Gulf coast of Thailand, just south of Bangkok, Sriracha hot sauce was first developed in the 1940s to accompany dishes of seafood served by a restaurant in the town. The sauce was believed to be a variation of a Cantonese chilli and garlic sauce made by Chinese immigrants to Thailand. It was later discovered by Vietnamese tourists visiting Si Racha, and from there, the popularity of the sauce spread to the US and the entire world.

Ingredients and Production

Hot sauce recipes vary significantly, depending on the origin and ingredients used. Common ingredients include chilli peppers, vinegar and salt, sometimes with additional vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices and flavourings. Fermentation is often used in hot sauce production to lend complexity to the flavour profile.

Sriracha hot sauce has a much more standardised recipe. Its main ingredients include chilli peppers, vinegar, garlic, palm sugar, and salt. The type of pepper used in Sriracha sauce, typically the red jalapeno, or Fresno pepper, gives the sauce its bright red colour and moderately spicy heat level. The sauce is often aged to allow the flavours to blend and intensify, resulting in the signature balanced and harmonious flavour of Sriracha sauce.

Flavour Profiles

The flavour profiles of the two sauces are where the Sriracha vs hot sauce difference first began to get people’s attention. It’s also where the differences became most apparent.

The flavours of hot sauces can vary widely, depending on the type of chillis and other ingredients used. For some brands of hot sauce, the amount of heat they deliver, measured by the Scoville rating, is a point of pride. The marketing of these hot sauces often boasts of the high Scoville rating some of them have achieved by using extremely hot chillies, like the Carolina Reaper or the Ghost Pepper. Other hot sauces focus on creating a balance of flavour and heat.

A highly-popular internet series called Hot Ones showcases the sometimes outrageous heat levels offered by some hot sauce brands by inviting famous celebrities to eat chicken wings coated with increasingly hotter brands of hot sauce and seeing how much heat they can stand.

Traditional Sriracha hot sauce, on the other hand, always offers a balanced flavour and moderate heat. Because of the standardised reliability of the sauce, it’s gained a cult following in recent years. Its popularity and standardised flavour profile have led to its incorporation into a wide range of dishes, from traditional Thai and Asian cuisine to fusion recipes and even American food.

Several well-known restaurant chains in the US have incorporated Sriracha hot sauce into their recipes, including McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell and Starbucks. Sriracha sauce’s thicker consistency and smooth texture make it ideal for spreading on sandwiches, mixing into dipping sauces, or adding as a finishing touch to stir-fries and noodle dishes.

Explore Flying Goose Sriracha Sauces

At Flying Goose we have expanded our range of Sriracha hot sauces to offer you more varieties of flavours to mix and match with your favourite dishes. We now offer 26 delicious varieties of our Sriracha sauce. Every sauce in our range is vegan and completely gluten-free. Explore our Sriracha hot sauces and discover the traditional flavour that elevates Sriracha sauce into a league of its own.