In Home Of Original Sriracha Sauce, Thais Say Rooster Brand Is Nothing To Crow About

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January 16th, 2019

Sriraja Panich is the brand name of one of two Sriracha sauces created by Saowanit Trikityanukul’s family. The family sold the brand to Thaitheparos, Thailand’s leading sauce company, in the 1980s. The brand has struggled to gain a foothold in the U.S., where the Huy Fong Rooster brand of Sriracha, created by Vietnamese-American David Tran, … Continued

Michael Sullivan / for NPR

Sriracha sauce. It’s everywhere. Even beer and donuts. The fiery chili paste concocted by Vietnamese-American immigrant David Tran has conquered the American market and imagination in the past decade.

But the original Sriracha is actually Thai — and comes from the seaside city of Si Racha, where most residents haven’t even heard of the U.S. brand, which is now being exported to Thailand.

I decided to go to the source to get the dirt on the sauce, and sat down with 71-year-old Saowanit Trikityanukul. Her grandmother was making Sriracha sauce when David Tran was still a baby, in what was then South Vietnam.

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