Sriracha shortage has people not seeing red

Siracha is in short supply at local grocery stores. (Paige Impink photo)

You may have gone searching for your favorite sriracha hot sauce recently, only to be met with empty shelves or signs stating a limited supply.

The most famous brand of sriracha, Huy Fong, is nowhere to be found after the company halted production briefly in 2022. Crop issues due to severe drought in Mexico have plagued the red jalapeno chili pepper crop and re­sulted in nationwide shor­tages of the product for consumers and for restaurants.

Sriracha's development is credited to David Tran, a Vietnamese hot sauce ma­ker who was seeking the product in the United States in the late 1970s. He created a recipe that combined red jalapeno chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, su­gar, and salt.

The product was a hit in Los Angeles’ Asian community and rapidly caught on. Tran launched Huy Fong Foods, Inc. in 1980. The iconic red bottle with a bright green cap has a rooster adorning the label. The origin of the sauce is actually Thai, named af­ter a seaside village, Si Ra­cha, according to a 2019 NPR story about the sauce.

The company is used to producing 18,000 bottles of sauce an hour, and the shortage has affected production greatly. In a me­mo issued by the company, customers were told that product would not be shipping in late 2022, and in early 2023, shortages persist.

Hot sauce substitutes may carry you over until crops can be restored. Suggestions include gochujang sauce, Thai sweet chili sauces, or chili garlic sauce. Some people like hot chili sauces such as Ta­basco brand, Chilula, Texas Pete's, or Franks Hot Sauce, but their flavors are different.

Chili sauces vary in the amount of vinegar in their recipes, and can be Louisiana-style or Mexican-style. Some use tabasco chilies, others use cayenne chilies, red peppers, arbol peppers, puya, and piquin peppers.

Sriracha is its own category as it is a pure invention, and uses red jala­penos. There are also the original Thai hot sauces which you may have to seek out an Asian specialty market to score. Afi­cionados recommend trying other brands of sri­racha-like sauces such a Kikkoman and Lee Kum Kee brands.

Currently a Tabasco brand sriracha is on the shelves at Market Basket locally and does have red jalapeno in its ingredient list.

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