Cooking With Sriracha

We asked Randy Clemens, who, like us, has a deep love for Sriracha* – so much in fact that he wrote a cookbook about it – what his suggestions are for cooking with it. — Yasmin Fahr

Cooking with Sriracha has been a lot of fun for me, and it's so funny to watch when people realize what a novel (yet so simple!) idea it is to put Sriracha in your food and not just on your food. 

The fact is, there are a lot of people out there who love Sriracha to death and like to smother their food with it. I have to admit, I've been accused of that very thing. Likewise, there are those who criticize those kinds of people because they feel Sriracha just makes everything taste... well, like Sriracha. Well, that may be the case, but it's a pretty damn tasty thing to taste like if you ask me!

Whichever train of thought you follow (or if you're one of the rare few who have yet to try the almighty "rooster sauce"), I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with how much depth and character Sriracha can add to a dish when you cook with it, complementing — and not overpowering — the other flavors. (Then, the choice of whether to douse it with even more Sriracha at the table is entirely yours!)

Click here for the Ultimate Sriacha Burger recipe.

Click here for the Honey-Sriracha Glazed Buffalo Wings recipe.

Click here for the Bleeding Mary cocktail recipe. 

Note*: Sriracha is a Thai hot sauce named after the town of Si Racha located along the Gulf of Thailand. Locals pour this sauce on their fish and seafood, and it is as common there as ketchup is in America. Lately, this bright-red spicy sauce made of sun-ripened chiles, garlic, sugar, salt and vinegar is gaining popularity in the U.S. and can now be found in most supermarkets.