Sriracha isn’t merely hot sauce in a squeeze bottle. It’s a thing.
Rappers rhyme it. Simpsons swig it. Astronauts pack it. The spicy sauce has inspired cookbooks, lawsuits and a documentary. Its huge fan base (and lack of trademark) means the name applies to both the red sauce, green cap, rooster logo version and to its competitors. It’s a general term, like ketchup.
When a condiment can claim anything “like ketchup,” it’s a thing.
It’s also hot sauce in a squeeze bottle — jalapeno spicy, garlic-gutsy and straight-up delicious. Perks up Thai noodle, Chinese dumpling, Vietnamese sandwich and — they say — burger, pizza and watermelon.
Even inmates demand “rooster sauce,” at least according to “Orange Is the New Black.” Must mean Sriracha is the new ketchup.
Breakfast Banh Mi
Prep: 45 minutes. Cook: 4 minutes. Makes: 4 sandwiches
2 carrots, peeled
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 loaf ciabatta bread
1/2 cup mixed fresh cilantro and mint leaves
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, sliced into matchsticks
1/2 cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, sliced into crescents
8 slices brown-sugar bacon (recipe follows)
Canola oil
4 eggs
Pickle: Use a vegetable peeler to carve carrots into long strips. Pile strips into a bowl; rub with sugar, salt and 1/4 teaspoon Sriracha. Pour in vinegar and enough cold water to cover. Let soak at room temperature, briefly — or up to two days, chilled. When ready to build sandwiches, drain carrots, rinse and pat dry.