Sriracha: The Story Behind America’s Favorite Sauce

For most of us, it’s not possible to pinpoint the first time we encountered Sriracha.

Perhaps it was always there—you grew up with it tucked into your cabinet, that iconic green nozzle poking among the rows of spices and condiments. Or maybe it was unfamiliar, an item that is now a permanent fixture on t-shirts and the tables of your favorite dive bar. Either way, it’s now hard to imagine life without a bottle in arm’s reach.

The sauce emerged in the palate of David Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant who settled in Los Angeles after war tore his country apart. He founded the brand behind the sauce, Huy Fong Foods, almost four decades ago, naming it after the boat on which he came to America. Tran is a humble businessman, telling the L.A. Times, “My American dream was never to become a billionaire. We started this because we like fresh, spicy chili sauce.”

Chowhound

Around the same time that the West Coast paper penned their story on the sauce (2013), Huy Fong moved into a massive new space that allowed them to triple production. But that move was the result of a lesson learned in 2007 when Huy Fong ran out of peppers and, unwilling to compromise its recipe, was forced to tell customers that Sriracha would be out-of-service for a few months. Despite the pause, customers remained loyal.

Huy Fong’s new facility, based in Irwindale, Cali., has plenty of size to accommodate the sauce and Tran even allows tours and open houses. During the early days of the business, Tran had a single Chevy van that he painted himself and used to deliver the sauce over a wide expanse of California. The company’s website also offers a few other interesting tidbits:

• Sriracha doesn’t need to be refrigerated
• Sriracha is kosher and gluten-free
• It’s all made in America

Surprisingly, Sriracha has also never spent a dime on advertising and they still don’t employ a salesperson. Instead, the popularity of the spice spread by word of mouth.

Related Video: Turn Leftover Sriracha into Chile Oil

You’ve also probably noticed that there are hundreds of products calling themselves “Sriracha-flavored.” You can find the taste’s logo stamped on potato chips, assorted sauces, almonds, and even vodka. And, of course, at Chowhound we have our own Sriracha recipe. That’s because Tran never trademarked the name. When the L.A. Times caught up with him again, this time in 2015, he told them that he often has lawyers offering to sue the competitors but that he doesn’t have any interest in getting litigious, saying simply, “let them do it.”

While there was only one iteration of Sriracha in the early days, the company has branched out and now offers a handful of tastes. There’s a Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek, which is just chili paste. No matter your preference, one thing is for certain: Sriracha is here to stay.

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How to Store and Dispose of Food While Camping So You Don’t Attract Animals

There are lots of ways to eat well when camping, from making bacon and morning coffee outdoors to wrapping things up at night with s’mores. But all of the food-related things that make the wilderness so enjoyable to us are also tempting to the animals that live there, so it’s important to be smart about storing food. It’s just as imperative to properly dispose of garbage and food waste so it doesn’t attract critters, from measly but annoying flies and mice to the dreaded bears.

Doing everything you can to deter animals from getting into your food and garbage isn’t just good for you, either—it helps keep them safe and healthy. Particularly for bears, when they learn to associate humans with easy meals (and not necessarily in the man-eating sense), they’re more likely to approach people, thus more likely to be put down as a precautionary measure.

Here are some things you can do while camping to keep animals out of your grub and away from your tent.

1. Reduce the amount of packaging (and food) you’ll need to dispose of. Try not to pack more than you can actually eat on your trip, and before you head out, transfer any food you can to reusable or biodegradable containers. Consolidate items where you can as well (for instance, cut meat and veggies and make them into skewers so you won’t have scraps to dispose of onsite). You can even make scrambled eggs ahead of time and freeze them to reheat later, no shells to deal with.

2. Don’t create highly scented garbage. This isn’t such a big deal if, say, you’re car camping in an area without bears, but if you are in bear country, especially if you’re hiking, you may want to skip even bringing things like meat and stick to lower-odor food like rice, beans, and tortillas. Steak and bacon will broadcast a highly attractive scent before, during, and after cooking and eating them.

3. Use odor-proof bags. Regardless of how aromatic you think your trash is, to reduce the chances of it enticing any animals, buy odor-proof bags, like these Base CampSource XL Odor-Barrier Bags, which are also good for stashing uneaten food and toiletries.

4. Use bear bags and bear canisters. These are essential if you camp in bear country, and you should use them to store not only uneaten food, but garbage as well. Some sites include bear-resistant lockers, but it’s best to bring your own storage solution just in case (and in some places, it’s required by law). Bear bags are good, but canisters are better. You can get them in various sizes, and should stash them at least 200 to 300 feet away from your campsite (and other campsites and trails as well). If using bear bags, make sure to hang them properly.

5. Keep your distance. The general rule of thumb is to keep food 100 yards (or 300 feet) away from your campsite, as well as from other sites and trails. This means that, ideally, you should not only cook, eat, and store all food that far away from the place where you’ll sleep, but keep all trash and food waste at that distance too. Bears can smell things from over a mile away, and other animals have keen noses too, so if they are led to your site, it’s best they’re not drawn straight to your sleeping bag.

6. Don’t leave food—or garbage—unattended even for a short time. I lost the most perfect pan of brownies I ever baked when I left it, wrapped in foil and then in a plastic bag, on a picnic table. I returned from a brief walk down to the beach to find it had been ravaged by squirrels. Trash can attract animals as well, so you should never leave any food or food waste sitting out for long periods of time, especially if you leave the site. In bear country, it should all go in bear-resistant storage containers as soon as possible, but otherwise, it should be safe in your vehicle. Absolutely do not store food or trash in your vehicle in bear country, because they can easily break in. (And they will if they think there’s food inside; not only can they still smell it, but they’re smart enough to recognize coolers on sight, so do everything you can to outsmart and deter them.)

7. Wash any highly scented packaging before throwing it away. This is particularly helpful in bear country, but a good idea everywhere else too, especially if you can’t immediately toss your trash into communal bins on the campgrounds. Washing out especially fragrant things like empty bacon packages or tuna cans or pouches before throwing them away helps make them less attractive (and keeps your car from smelling if you’re temporarily stashing your trash bags there).

8. Strain your dishwater and dispose of it away from campsites, trails, and water sources. Even if you’re not washing your garbage, you will need to wash your dishes, and then get rid of the dirty water. You should first strain it through a mesh strainer, bandana, or old pair of pantyhose to remove any food particles (which you’ll throw in with your trash, which you’ll then properly store, right?), then scatter the strained water at least 200 yards away from your site, as well as all other campsites, trails, and water sources. Scattering it over rocks and/or in an area that will get direct sunlight helps it disperse and evaporate more quickly. And be sure to use biodegradable soap rated for outdoor use when you wash up, not Dawn.

9. Don’t bury garbage. Some sources recommend it, but animals can still find it and easily dig it up, so stashing it in odor-proof and animal-resistant containers until you can throw it in a designated bin is best.

10. Don’t forget about pet food. If  you bring your dogs camping, treat their food exactly as you treat yours, because it’s just as attractive to wild animals. Store it properly, and don’t leave any outside over night. Wash their bowls out following the same method you use to wash your dishes and dispose of the water far away from all fellow campers and trails.

11. Never bring food or garbage into your tent. From unopened tubs of trail mix and dog treats to empty Corn Nuts bags, you should never bring anything edible or that was in contact with food into your tent. In bear country in particular, you should even keep other highly scented items like lotion, toothpaste, and deodorant well away, and to be as safe as possible, don’t bring clothes you wore while cooking and eating inside your tent either.

Depending on the place where you’re camping, all of the above may not be strictly necessary, but it’s always best to be as proactive as possible, and exercise good judgment. Even if you’re not in danger of becoming a meal to something else if you slip up, you don’t want to lose any of your own precious food or gear to hungry rodents, raccoons, or other critters, so best not to tempt them with tasty trash.

Related Video: How to Make S’Mores Trail Mix

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15 Ways to Eat Jackfruit

Jackfruit is here to stay. What started as the latest plant-based food craze—herbivores and carnivores alike were drawn to its meat-like consistency—is now a bonafide culinary star. You’ll find it popping up on menus across the country, and food manufacturing companies like The Jackfruit Company are bringing it to your grocery store aisles in everything from its raw form to meal starter kits to read-to-eat entrees.

Native to Asia, jackfruit’s fleshy insides make it an attractive meat substitute that packs an impressive amount of essential nutrients (fiber, protein, potassium, magnesium, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and B) into its bumpy, oversized, oval-shaped shell. But while it’s becoming an increasingly mainstream ingredient, you might be a bit puzzled as to how best to cook it up. That’s why we asked professional chefs to share their favorite jackfruit-inspired dishes that are perfect for your next Meatless Monday dinner.

Pulled “Pork” Jackfruit

Say hello to vegetarian barbecue that actually tastes good. “Jackfruit resembles pulled pork, visually and in texture, once it’s cooked,” says David Burke, renowned chef and restaurateur—who just opened his newest restaurant, Woodpecker, in New York City. “Braise it in my B1 sauce (available in my restaurants or on Amazon) along with cumin and smoked paprika. It will satisfy any meat eater.” As a substitute for his B1 sauce, Burke suggests using any non-sweet barbecue sauce, horseradish, or Worcestershire to mask some of the fruit’s natural sweetness.

Organic Authority

Jackfruit Smoothie

“Blend jackfruit, mint, green grapes, spinach, water, and ice cubes together to create a green smoothie with a sweet, tropical-esque flavor,” say the chefs at Vitamix.

Jackfruit “Tuna” Melt

Here’s a twist on a lunchtime classic: Substitute jackfruit in place of canned tuna. Mix with your favorite tuna salad add-ins (we love the combo of mayo, chopped celery, and a shake of smoked paprika and cayenne), then add a layer of lettuce and eat it as a cold sandwich, or top it with a piece of cheddar cheese and grill the sammy in a pan for a crispy, gooey bite.

Jerked Jackfruit

“I like to smoke it and simmer it in a jerk-based sauce,” says Thomas Boemer, executive chef and partner at Corner Table and Revival in Minneapolis. Serve it alongside a pile of rice and peas or stuffed into a pillowy roll.

Jackfruit Tacos

Sub in jackfruit for your favorite meaty taco filling. “Jackfruit is incredibly versatile, due to its ability to absorb flavors. Stuffing it into a taco is one of my favorite applications—I love it so much I actually added it to the menu at our 40 nationwide locations!” says Peter Olsacher, executive chef at Bahama Breeze.

Lazy Cat Kitchen

Jackfruit Stir-Fry

Reach for jackfruit instead of tofu for your next vegetarian stir-fry. Sauté with classic Asian ingredients like garlic and plenty of ginger, than add in veggies like onions, peppers, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and snap peas. Add an optional swirl of soy sauce or squirt of Sriracha, then pile on a mound of white or brown rice and devour.

Jackfruit Tomato Sauce

For a plant-based version of a hearty Italian meat sauce, sub in jackfruit instead. Plunk it into a classic marinara, then let it slowly simmer before scooping it over a plate of your favorite pasta.

Jackfruit Nachos

“It can have a soft texture, so it’s important to serve jackfruit alongside ingredients that have some crispiness,” says Olsacher. Top salty tortilla chips with Mexican-flavored jackfruit, then smother it in nacho essentials like beans, jalapeños, chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, sour cream, and cheese.

Jackfruit Pizza

Jackfruit is mild on its own and picks up whatever flavors you introduce to it. That’s why it makes the perfect meat-free pizza topping. We love sauteing it with a bit of barbecue sauce, then building a pizza with the jackfruit mixture, frozen or fresh corn, red onion, and plenty of mozzarella cheese.

Diary of an Ex Sloth

Jackfruit “Sausage” and Peppers

Saute jackfruit with olive oil, fennel seeds, garlic, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and a pinch of salt to create a faux Italian sausage crumble. Cook up onions and sweet bell peppers, then pile it all on a crusty Italian roll.

Jackfruit Ramen

Add the fruit to a savory vegetable broth, then pour over a mound of noodles and garnish with your favorite ramen toppings, suggest Vitamix chefs.

Jackfruit Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are healthy and filling, not to mention delicious and super easy to assemble. Mix jackfruit with whatever veggies (chopped) you have in the house, then fold in cooked quinoa, rice, or couscous, then stuff it all into a hollowed-out bell pepper and bake.

Jackfruit Pitas

This is sure to satisfy your next Greek craving. Cook jackfruit in a pan with olive oil, black pepper, and oregano, then layer in a pita with hummus, tzatziki, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Delish!

Lazy Cat Kitchen

Jackfruit Macaroni and Cheese

Healthy up comfort food by stirring jackfruit into your go-to mac ‘n’ cheese mixture, then bake in the oven until the top layer of cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Jackfruit Fried Rice

For a quickie fried rice, use jackfruit instead of chicken or pork. You’ll save time (it cooks up faster than meat) without losing the textures and flavors you know and love.

Related Video: How to Make Jackfruit Bacon

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Get Classy With These 14 Trout Recipes

The first time I really ever gave any thought to trout was while watching Gilmore Girls. In one episode, Richard Gilmore is dismayed at having fish for dinner, yet again, after his doctor advises him to cut back on red meat. His wife Emily counters back that it’s not such a bad thing, since they are eating sea bass, after all: “Trout can be a fishy fish. But sea bass is not really a fishy fish.”

Not that I get my ideas about food from drama-comedies revolving around the lives of a mother and daughter who both have a predilection for eating unwholesome amounts of junk food (yet possess perfect skin and slim physiques), but I realized then that trout does have a bit of a lukewarm reputation as gamey, pungent, and fishy, as if that were a bad thing.

In my opinion, Richard and Emily, those embodiments of New England gentility, should have embraced the idea of trout on their dinner table. It evokes timeless elegance—think lightly browned amandine, dressed in flecks of almond, creamy swipes of pâté on crackers, and svelte fillets, gently roasted or grilled.

In my head, Emily would come around to the charms of trout and serve one of these fourteen recipes at her next ladies’ luncheon or Friday supper. Especially the potato skins—she knows the value of a good finger food when she sees one.

1. Smoked Trout

Chowhound

If you have an outdoor grill, you can smoke your own fish. Not only is it more cost effective than buying it by the package, you’ll get to brag about the time you made your own nosh, DIY style. Use this recipe as the base for any one of the following smoked trout recipes. Get our Smoked Trout recipe.

2. Smoked Trout Pâté

Chowhound

Do you like to schmear? This spread will happily grace any cracker, toast, or crudité you put it on, adding a touch of hickory perfume to every bite. Get our Smoked Trout Pâté recipe.

3. Smoked Trout Potato Skins

Chowhound

Appetizing time meets game time: these boats bridge the best of delicatessen and pub fare. Get our Smoked Trout Potato Skins recipe.

4. Smoked Trout Crostini

Chowhound

Like barbecue sauce on brisket or pickles on a bacon burger, any deep and smoky meat is enhanced by adding something tart to lift and counterbalance those big flavors. Here, crème fraîche, lemon, and Granny Smith apple bring that panache. Get our Smoked Trout Crostini recipe.

5. Smoked Trout Hash

Saveur

Bagels don’t have to be the only item in your brunch spread that take on the charms of smoked fish. Lightly crisped hash browns are another welcoming medium for delicate flakes of smoked trout. Get the recipe here.

6. Smoked Trout Deviled Eggs

The Kitchn

The key to a great deviled egg is just enough acid to brighten things up—lemon and Dijon do that just swell in this recipe. Think of the trout as an added bonus, adding a subtle something extra to the overall profile. Get the recipe here.

7. Smoked Trout Brandade

Bon Appétit

Just in case you haven’t noticed the theme yet, smoked trout brings out the best in pretty much anything creamy or starchy. A brandade might just be the holy grail of them all, situating the fish in a luxuriant field of potatoes, garlic, and cheese. Get the recipe here.

8. Winter Vegetable Soup with Smoked Trout

Food52

Root vegetable soup can feel stoic, like its holding back from its fullest potential. But a simple addition like smoked trout can take it a step further and beyond, adding intrigue to each slurp. Get the recipe here.

9. Trout Almondine

Blogging Over Thyme

Trout almondine is one of the classics of French cooking, in which the fillets are lightly dredged and pan-fried then coated in a meuniere sauce flecked with almonds. It looks stunningly sophisticated on the plate, yet is a cinch to put together. Get the recipe here.

10. Trout Cakes With Basil Vinaigrette Recipe

Helene DuJardin / Food Republic

Crab cakes move aside, trout has totally one upped you at your game. Not only are these puppies packed with savory, herb-laced deliciousness, they’re easier on the wallet than pricey lump crab meat. Get the recipe here.

11. Fried Speckled Trout with Black-eyed Peas

Holly A. Heyser / Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Catfish isn’t the only fish deserving of the Southern-fried treatment. Here, trout is encrusted in cornmeal and served with black eyed peas, bacon, and greens, for a main appropriate of a soul food feast. Get the recipe here.

12. Roasted Trout, Watermelon Radishes and Dandelion Greens Salad

Tartelette

One of the brilliant things about trout is that while it can take on some heavy and sumptuous presentations, it’s equally at home in lighter dishes as well. This summery salad pairs it up with colorful radishes and lightly dressed dandelion greens. Get the recipe here.

13. Campfire Trout with Herbs and Bacon

Chowhound

Going camping? You couldn’t get more rugged and rustic than a whole trout roasted over the fire. Bonus points if you catch it yourself. Get our recipe.

14. Roasted Trout with Parsley and Tangerines

Add some citrus and herb flavors to your fish for a refreshing summer twist. Get our Roasted Trout with Parsley and Tangerine recipe.

Related Video: How to Filet Trout

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Tomato Raisins (Oven-Dried Whole Cherry Tomatoes)

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21 Best Recipes With Ripe Summer Tomatoes

Oh, tomatoes! How we love you! Here are 21 different ways to enjoy those ripe summer tomatoes. Whether you need to use them immediately for something like a gazpacho or a Caprese salad, or you have so many you need to can or get creative (think basic tomato sauce or salsa), we've got you covered.

Continue reading "21 Best Recipes With Ripe Summer Tomatoes" »

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