DIY Sriracha A.k.a. Rooster Sauce

Impress your Chili Head friends by busting out a bottle of this DIY Sriracha Chile Sauce! 

Sriracha as we know it today has been popularized by Huy Fong Foods and their big red "rooster" bottle (complete with a giant rooster logo and bright green cap, making it easy to identify in your fridge). But the sauce has a rich history and  is named after a coastal city in central Thailand's Chonburi Province  "Si Racha".  Here is a version you can make in your own kitchen. It's not as spicy as the Huy Fong version, but it gives you major street cred -- especially if you bust out these swing-top stopper bottles with hand-carved chili-pepper stamp.

This sauce has a great, addicting flavor -- hot, sweet and garlicky -- and just like the real "Rooster Sauce", it tastes awesome on just about anything. Next time, I might try red serranos and a few extra Thai chilies to up the Scoville factor!

(recipe adapted from The Sriracha Cookbook by Randy Clemens)


Ingredients:


**Gloves**

1 3/4 pounds Fresno Chili Peppers, Red Jalapenos or Red Serrano  ( I used Fresno)

3 Thai Chili Peppers

2 tbsp Garlic Powder + additional as needed

2  tbsp Granulated Sugar +  more as needed

1 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tbsp kosher salt

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar + more as needed

Water as needed

Kitchen Equipment:

2lb Glass jar

1 bottle

Funnel

Metal Strainer

Sauce pan

Food Processor

Wooden Spoon

Step 1: Prep the Peppers

*** Please wear gloves while handling chile peppers***

Remove stems from chili peppers and half lengthwise

Remove outer skin from cloves of garlic. I use the back of a knife. Place garlic clove on hard surface, and then press down gently with the back of a knife. This will help the skin come off easier.

Measure out sugars and garlic powder

Step 2: Processs in a Food Processor

In your food processor, add peppers, salt, granulated sugar, garlic powder, garlic and brown sugar. Pulse until a coarse puree forms.

Step 3: Transfer to a Glass Jar & Stir Daily (7)

Transfer mixture to a glass jar and seal. Store jar at room temperature. *** Your job for the next seven days is to stir the mixture****

I used a 2lb jar and there was adequate room to stir.



  Day One - Stir
  Day Two- Stir
  Day Three- Stir
  Day Four- Stir
  Day Five- Stir
  Day Six- Stir
  Day Seven- Stir

Step 4: Boil & Simmer

After seven days of hard work ,stiring and waiting, we are ready to turn our mixture into Sriracha!

Pour pepper mixture into small saucepan over medium heat. Next, add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer gently for five minutes.

Remove from heat after five minutes and let cool completely.

Step 5: Strain Mixture

Line a bowl with a metal strainer and pour mixture into it. Stir and press onto solids until no liquid remains.  This is time consuming so you must be patient.

Taste your sriracha and adjust seasonings and consistency to suit your taste. You can add additional salt, garlic powder, vinegar, sugar or even a little fish sauce. I added a little bit of veg. oil to mine to improve mouth feel.

Step 6: Bottle and Enjoy!

Line a bottle with a funnel. Pour sauce into bottle and seal. Keep refrigerated for up to 6 months. 

Comments

[Panama'sF]

what does it mean when homemade hot sauce oozes out of container

[raymhans]

Imnopeas,

Day 4 of the stir noticed mason jar was oozing and hissing. Attempted to remove lid and Kablammm.. It exploded everywhere. ??? Huh

[Panama'sF]

is it safe to eat now bcause the same happened to me, but no explosion

[HeatherL3]

That's because the ferment took off and was really active and the pressure built up. You're lucky you didn't have a bottle bomb.

Fermenting things the way this article instructs is very dangerous and one of the dumbest things to do. Proper and SAFE fermenting requires an airlock so the CO2 can escape without letting in oxygen. An airlock is inexpensive (about $1-2). All you do is drill a hole in the lid, put in a rubber grommet, and put the airlock on with some water in it. You can buy them from any brew supply store. There's a company that has jars and lids all set up with airlocks but are a rip off for the prices they charge.

I know there are people who swear by this "open the jar daily" method, and may work for them. But it is dangerous.

[Panama'sF]

what does it mean when homemade hot sauce oozes out of container, is it safe to eat

[CharC1]

I don't get why you would cook this after fermentation and kill all the great probiotics that result from this process??? The whole point of fermentation is to preserve food, and killing the microorganisms is pointless. I just add a little vinegar in the beginning when starting fermentation to speed things up by raising acidity, and straining when done, reserving the liquid to use as another condiment, or just thicken the whole batch a little with konjac powder, which I like better than xanthan gum. This will last a long time in the fridge, and give you all the wonderful benefits of the probiotics you waited and worked to cultivate!

[Oniongrrrl]

[Oniongrrrl]

I couldn't find any red chiles in my area, so I used green jalapeños, serranos and a few green thai chiles. It tastes great, but came out watery, not thick, like the sriracha I've had. Doesn't really taste like sriracha, but it's a good hot sauce.

[joeythepainter]

Great photos - Now I'm hungry......

[fatttmonkey]

Just curious, can someone explain the reasoning behind boiling & simmering with vinegar? I believe this process made my batch too sour.

[pJ661]

You boil the chili paste because it was fermented for 7 days. This kills the bacteria and provides a safer product with a longer shelf life. If your batch was too sour it was either you used too much vinegar or you let it boil/reduce too much.

[lmnopeas]

There are many different ways to make hot sauce. Some recipes are vinegar based, while others are not. It might also be personal preference when in comes to taste. You might want to try making a version without using vinegar or add a little less.

[melvinsfink]

Regarding the storage container during the 7 day fermentation period:

I'm assuming you don't want the "lid" to be air tight. Could I just store it in a glass bowl with plastic wrap covering the top?

[lmnopeas]

If you wanted to, that would be sufficient.

[yolens]

I accidentally added the vinegar into the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. What will this do to the fermentation process? Am I totally hooped and need to start over?!?!

[lmnopeas]

Bummer! I would start over. It will
Be worth the wait.

[maintainin]

I realize it's been two years since anybody commented but I wanted to ask how much salt do you use for this recipe? I don't see an amount mentioned in the recipe. Was any added with the initial mixture? Or did you add it at the end? It's an important step. Especially for the fermentation stage. If anybody can give me a suggestion I would appreciate it.

[lmnopeas]

Let me double check the recipe and I'll get back to you a.s.a.p.

[ShaneFrampton]

Just whipped up this recipe using organic garden grown red jalapeños and cayenne peppers, and garlic. I'm on day 2 of the ferment. Great job on the instructable, really good pictures.
One small problem :
You forgot to include "SALT" in your ingredients list!!! You show it in your picture of ingredients, but no note of it anywhere. I'm assuming 1 1/2 teaspoons. I just added it in while stirring the day 2 ferment.
Whoops please update so nobody messes it up

[chrisdm]

I made this sauce today with Green Jalapeño and Serrano Peppers. It's fantastic! But I can't wait to make the red variety as well..... Thanks for posting, awesome instructable!