Artisanal sriracha
November 12, 2012 7:04 AM   Subscribe

Want preservative-free sriracha but don't have time to make your own? Jolene Collins makes (and sells) her own high-end artisanal sriracha. Would you like to watch?
posted by Egg Shen (95 comments total) 37 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hey, rest of the country, you gotta step up your game. You can't let Brooklyn be the only place that makes artisanal stuff. You name it, we got some delightfully quirky person in Brooklyn making it, complete with adorably whimsical packaging.

Seriously people, you need to take some of these artisans, we got too many.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:12 AM on November 12, 2012 [5 favorites]


Look, that's the deal. You get the cool bars and restaurants, but you have to keep the insufferable hipsters forging paperclips by hand.
posted by zamboni at 7:14 AM on November 12, 2012 [35 favorites]


insufferable hipsters

Yeah, Ms. Collins is a bit of a Manic Pixie Spicy Asian Condiment Girl, but her video is beautifully photographed - and, hey, sriracha - so I went for it.
posted by Egg Shen at 7:17 AM on November 12, 2012


Yeah, I'm pretty sure that of all the condiments sriracha transcends hispter.
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:18 AM on November 12, 2012


At any rate, I would love to sample some. I myself dabble in high-end artisanal tuna fish sandwiches. The way it works is clients contact me, I send my guy out with a selection of tuna fish sandwiches. He shows up, walks you through each type, and you buy what you want. Starting at $24.95. I dont have a food service license or anything so don't tell anyone who isn't cool.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:25 AM on November 12, 2012 [12 favorites]


As an Asian, I've never got the white hipster obsession with Sriracha. Yes, it tastes good, but there are a billion other Asian chili sauces out there that are just as good or even better.
posted by gyc at 7:27 AM on November 12, 2012 [20 favorites]


You mean there are sauces we probably haven't even heard of?
posted by Ad hominem at 7:29 AM on November 12, 2012 [33 favorites]


The other billion don't live on the table at random restaurants that most of us whites have access too.
posted by ftm at 7:29 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Seriously...All that effort to simply reproduce a commercial product? A real foodie would have created their own unique hot sauce.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:29 AM on November 12, 2012


Sriracha is how hipsters spell "catsup". The Huy Fong brand sold in the US has more sugar in it than spices.
posted by Nelson at 7:34 AM on November 12, 2012 [8 favorites]


A real foodie would have created their own unique hot sauce.

Kind of. The simulacra-strain of hipster activity seems to be on the rise. I've been hearing more and more about people making clone velveeta and budweiser-style beer sorts of things lately.

It's just another form of drag, if you ask me. These kids aren't old-timey railroad engineers and circus ringmasters, either, but you wouldn't know it from how they dress. Seems like it's all just seeing how close you can come to reproducing something, not necessarily about how authentic or real or creative is the thing you're reproducing.
posted by gauche at 7:35 AM on November 12, 2012 [6 favorites]


A real foodie would have created their own unique hot sauce.

Which is ... what she did? And sriracha existed prior to the rooster sauce iteration that everyone knows about? So, you know, I respect your need, as a hater, to hate, but you could be more informed about it.

You mean there are sauces we probably haven't even heard of?

I am intrigued by this. And this.
posted by kenko at 7:38 AM on November 12, 2012 [8 favorites]


I hear down in Chinatown they buy it from a store. the next step!
posted by Artw at 7:41 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Making it actually GOOD defeats the purpose of Sriracha. It's supposed to be a super cheap and easy delivery method of hot and garlic to my mouth.
posted by jb at 7:43 AM on November 12, 2012 [8 favorites]


Those sauces look tasty.

You know what sauce hipsters should reverse-engineer? The cracked peppercorn sauce from the arch deluxe. That sauce was amazing and as far as I know not available anywhere. A high-end artisanal version of a McDonalds sauce is just ironic enough as well.
posted by Ad hominem at 7:44 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Some chick making awesome hot sauce in what appears to be a professional kitchen is not really the same as some guy who's really into waxing his mustache, gauche, or at least, it doesn't seem that way to me. In the video she explains precisely how she came to be doing this and it's not the atavism (which also annoys me) that has someone wearing clothes that evoke the 1900s: she took refined sugar out of her diet, liked this style of hot sauce, but couldn't get any that didn't have refined sugar in it, so she started making it herself.
posted by kenko at 7:45 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


Anyway, this comment: "A real foodie would have created their own unique hot sauce." is totally bats.

Dedicating all that effort to making really excellent chicken consommé? A real foodie would have created their own unique soup.

Dedicating all that effort to pefecting your omelette technique? A real foodie would have created their own unique egg dish.

WTF do you think a foodie is?
posted by kenko at 7:47 AM on November 12, 2012 [6 favorites]


(It is maybe not true that all unique foodies detest the special snowflake school of cooking in which every dish needs to be made "your own" by being arbitrarily changed. (Arch-foodie FX of fxcuisine.com somewhere inveighed memorably against this, but I can't find it any more.) But that certainly describes a large subset of "foodies" (an odious term).)
posted by kenko at 7:50 AM on November 12, 2012


Most of us have asian markets in our towns. Go to the most cluttered of them and find darkest, dustiest aisle. Look for sauces in bottles with labels that have half come off due to the use of the lowest grade glue and are about 16 degrees off level because why bother. Get a half dozen different ones and statistically you'll have a superior, cheaper experience.
posted by sourwookie at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh great, this thread again.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2012 [10 favorites]


I think this is finally where Metafilter will finally settle it: Hipsters. What are they? Do they even exist? Are they annoying or the savior of all mankind? Are YOU a hipster without even realizing it?
posted by pjaust at 8:01 AM on November 12, 2012 [7 favorites]


I went to order some but her etsy is sold out. They have it at brooklyn brine. Anyone know anything about that place? I need a new pickle supplier but selling pickles as "NYC Deli" pickles makes me nervous, are they full sour?
posted by Ad hominem at 8:07 AM on November 12, 2012


I thought her sauces looked great. I love sriracha and use it almost exclusively now instead of Frank's, Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce that I grew up using. But sriracha is sweeter than I'd like so I would really be interested in tasting hers.

I found her efforts inspiring, especially as I grow different kinds of hot peppers and the differences in flavor are pretty distinct.

And the hipster comments are stupid.
posted by shoesietart at 8:07 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Get a half dozen different ones and statistically you'll have a superior, cheaper experience.

My go-to asian market is large enough that I'd be quite uncertain that's true, especially never having tried Collins's sauce (have you?). It doesn't have dark and dusty aisles, though, so maybe I should try out one of the smaller shops in that neighborhood? They all seem well-lit too.

I'm really unclear on the source of the hostility, social and culinary, being directed at this woman.

Hipsters. What are they?

A hipster is a young man or woman who lives in a city and doesn't have an office job, as far as I can tell.
posted by kenko at 8:08 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


I myself dabble in high-end artisanal tuna fish sandwiches. The way it works is clients contact me, I send my guy out with a selection of tuna fish sandwiches.

Look, if you're going to make joke artisanal business, you need to commit to it! David Rees spent 2 years of his life on this joke.
posted by malphigian at 8:15 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I know. It was more a joke about the illegal underground grilled cheese and lobster roll businesses in NY that are run practically like drug delivery services, you meet a dude in an alley and he sells you a grilled cheese sandwich.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:18 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Never understood the Sriracha hate. It's not "hipster sauce" (whatever that is), except in the minds of people who knee-jerk against things that are successful.

I'm pretty sure it didn't get on a billion restaurant tables around the world because of quirky white people.

BTW, I would love to try this woman's sauces, they look delicious.
posted by Aquaman at 8:19 AM on November 12, 2012 [4 favorites]


Mr Naga Hot Pepper Pickle.

Add it to Lamb Bhuna.

Game over for every other curry you have ever eaten.
posted by srboisvert at 8:21 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


A hipster is a young man or woman who lives in a city and doesn't have an office job, as far as I can tell.

Damn...now I wish I was a hipster.
posted by adamdschneider at 8:27 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Can we redirect some of this hipster hate towards the people who insist on calling it "cock sauce?" Because that is gross.
posted by RobotHero at 8:33 AM on November 12, 2012 [7 favorites]


Screw sriracha, I want someone to show me how to make my own Tabasco.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:36 AM on November 12, 2012


Great, now I want to to put some on my cereal.
posted by arcticseal at 8:44 AM on November 12, 2012


Never understood the Sriracha hate.

Me either!
posted by sriracha at 8:47 AM on November 12, 2012 [11 favorites]


It's hard to defend classifying sriracha as a hipster sauce when it's sold at Walmart and served at Applebees and P.F. Chang's.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 8:50 AM on November 12, 2012 [6 favorites]


I want someone to show me how to make my own Tabasco.

Mash peppers with salt. Seal it up and let it sit. Add vinegar. Strain.

For the full effect, you'll need Avery Island-grown peppers (preferably hand-selected by the McIlhenny family), white oak barrels for the aging, a three-year fermentation, and multiple stirrings (probably at industrial speeds) with the vinegar. But the basics remain the same.
posted by Egg Shen at 8:50 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


@Ad hominem, I've had Brooklyn Brine's Whiskey Sour and NYC Deli. Whiskey Sour, interesting; Deli, good, not mind-blowing (the Deli version is pretty much a garlic dill). But if you're planning to go to their (newish) storefront, CALL AHEAD. The one time I schlepped out of my way to go there, they were closed, despite the fact that they were supposed to be open.
posted by old_growler at 8:51 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


she took refined sugar out of her diet, liked this style of hot sauce, but couldn't get any that didn't have refined sugar in it, so she started making it herself

Using, according to the video, palm sugar.

I'd love to try her sauces. I like regular sriracha (which is indeed called "cock sauce" in our house because we are immature that way) but I'm sure it could be improved on.
posted by Forktine at 9:00 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Deli, good, not mind-blowing (the Deli version is pretty much a garlic dill
Great, thank!

What I really want is full sour packed in spicy brine.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:01 AM on November 12, 2012


It's hard to defend classifying sriracha as a hipster sauce when it's sold at Walmart and served at Applebees and P.F. Chang's.

At this point it's been fully gentrified, and the hipsters have moved on to a new neighborhood sauce.
posted by Forktine at 9:01 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


Dedicating all that effort to making really excellent chicken consommé? A real foodie would have created their own unique soup.

A real foodie would have genetically engineered a new species of food animal, the marrow of whose bones would provide vastly superior-tasting broth for use in artisanal boutique-blog recipes.
posted by aught at 9:13 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


A hipster is a young man or woman who lives in a city and doesn't have an office job, as far as I can tell.

I think you can have an office job, just never talk about it in social media / web. That's exclusively reserved for your super-amazing roster of projects.
posted by aught at 9:15 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


srboisvert wins this thread!!

mr. naga is brutally spicy (AND SO GOOD) you can pretty much find that stuff at any bengali market. there are quite a few in NYC's jackson heights area and a healthy cluster in LA's koreatown. if you raise your child to occasionally eat that stuff when mixed with mango pickle, s/he will grow up to eat alone, as their friends will always be like "no sorry, your taste in food is too spicy" (sorry, just included part of my life story there)

sambal oelek (also made/packaged by huy fong) substitutes the sugar of sriracha for garlic, iirc. also SO GOOD and just as reasonably priced.

sriracha is originally thai, but i haven't really found any of the thai-imported sriracha sauces to be spicy... rather, they are a bit on the sweeter side.
posted by raihan_ at 9:18 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


Preservative free? No thanks. Most of what makes sriracha great is its ability to sit unrefrigerated on a restaurant table for years on end.
posted by zsazsa at 9:21 AM on November 12, 2012 [4 favorites]


This project is definitely deserving of a kickstarter proposal. Can you imagine???? we're going to be rich! [no sarcasm]
posted by oneous at 9:22 AM on November 12, 2012


The Huy Fong brand sold in the US has more sugar in it than spices.

No it doesn't. Chili is the primary ingredient.
posted by slkinsey at 9:24 AM on November 12, 2012 [4 favorites]


For the full effect, you'll need Avery Island-grown peppers (preferably hand-selected by the McIlhenny family), white oak barrels for the aging, a three-year fermentation, and multiple stirrings (probably at industrial speeds) with the vinegar. But the basics remain the same.

Many, many years ago, I toured the plant with my grandparents. Monster oak barrels for aging, big stirring equipment, yet they seemed to have found a happy midpoint between 'industrial' and 'traditional'.

You could smell the place inside the car from a mile away, though, not a bad smell, but definitely vinegar and peppers, everywhere, and unescapable. My grandfather, who enjoyed tweaking people from time to time, pulled aside a guy in white scrubs working the line and asked him "Now you tell me the truth, when you get home at night, can you still eat this stuff?" The guy didn't miss a beat, he shined a big smile like he was in on the joke and said "Yes, sir, every night!"
posted by gimonca at 9:41 AM on November 12, 2012 [4 favorites]


How did this current surge in popularity start? It showed up on my radar a few months ago, and I remember thinking "Well, yeah, sriracha is fucking awesome*, but t-shirts? Really?"

*TRANSLATION: I liked it before it was cool.
posted by brundlefly at 9:53 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


I remember seeing the bottles on tables in Chinese restaurants in Manhattan Chinatown in the early 1990s but being too scared to try it. Now I put it on damned near anything savory.

I've made my own walnut ketchup before. This looks like something right up my (dark, unlit) alley.
posted by 1adam12 at 10:18 AM on November 12, 2012


I've been hearing more and more about people making clone velveeta and budweiser-style beer sorts of things lately.

I'm holding out for artisinal spam. I'd like someone to start with ham from an organic heritage breed pig and end up with spam.
posted by Area Man at 10:19 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


As someone who has chopped jalapeños barehanded and been unable to get the oil off after hazmat levels of scrubbing, was anyone else surprised they weren't wearing gloves while prepping the peppers? Also, if she'a a hipster then bring me more of them...I thought she was great.
posted by victoriab at 10:21 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


To digress slightly, I've gone off sriracha in favor of sauces from Jamaica and Trinidad. The two that stand out for me are Grace's scotch bonnet sauce - SO fruity, pungent and flavorful with medium heat - and Matouk's flambeau sauce, which is brutally hot and delicious. Suggestions for other sauces very welcome (not interested in anything with a picture of a skull or the words insanity or death or allusions to burning anuses on the label)
posted by fleetmouse at 10:23 AM on November 12, 2012 [4 favorites]


Now if I could somehow combine siracha and the semi-sweet nuoc mam dipping sauce...
posted by mrbill at 10:25 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


ugh ... hipsters ... kill them, kill them with fire ... it's the only way to be sure.

Was it just me or was everything about her ... me, my, I ... I always thought that making products for consumers was about your consumer ... I guess that is the difference about artisanal ... it's all about me.

Also ... too many adjectives and cliches.

And ... did I miss the bit where they use proper canning technique and use boiling water? (@47sec)

And ... n
posted by jannw at 10:32 AM on November 12, 2012


Sambal oelek does not have garlic. It's just peppers, vinegar or lime, and salt. Delicious, salty, and not flavour-masking like sriracha.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 10:34 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


Okay Metafilter.

I'm starting to loathe the hipster-hate on here. It's quite the harshmellow.

Some of my peers (myself included) are underemployed and have lots of free time. In that free time, we like to make things. We add value to raw ingredients for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it seems a little silly, but we're having a good time doing it, and we're enjoying the fruits of our hobbies.

Sometimes, thanks to the internet, we can make a little bit of money off our hobbies. That's pretty great. It keeps us from stealing your mail and selling it to ID thieves and selling drugs to your kids on the playground.

Please stop shitting on the non-destructive, generally-pretty-fucking-cool things we're doing. It's really annoying, and makes me want my $5 bucks back.
posted by furnace.heart at 11:01 AM on November 12, 2012 [35 favorites]


I myself dabble in high-end artisanal tuna fish sandwiches. The way it works is clients contact me, I send my guy out with a selection of tuna fish sandwiches. He shows up, walks you through each type, and you buy what you want. Starting at $24.95. I dont have a food service license or anything so don't tell anyone who isn't cool.

Where/how could an aspiring foodie such as myself buy illegal sandwiches on campus/near campus? I want to try it but have no idea how to get started at UVic, despite its apparent widespread use.
posted by modernserf at 11:02 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


jannw: "ugh ... hipsters ... kill them, kill them with fire ... it's the only way to be sure."

Can we not do this kind of shit here?
posted by brundlefly at 11:04 AM on November 12, 2012 [11 favorites]


STOP TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU FUCKING HATE HIPSTERS

HIPSTERS DON'T EXIST FOR FUCKS SAKE

IT'S JUST FOLKS YOUNGER THAN YOU WHO ARE HAVING MORE FUN AND SOMETIMES WEARING A SILLY HAT AT THE SAME TIME

JESUS SIDEWAYS SHITTING CHRIST
posted by FatherDagon at 11:11 AM on November 12, 2012 [66 favorites]


I don't know anything about hipsters, but I like sriracha and I've been lacto-fermenting peppers lately and making my own hot sauce. So far, I've done:

- Jalapeños so red and sweet you'd think they were cherry tomatoes until the spice kicks in, blended with raw garlic

- A mixture of green jalapeños, red thai chilis, red dragon peppers and red portuguese peppers, strained through cheesecloth for something similar-ish to tabasco, also with raw garlic

- more red jalpeños with a clutch of habaneros and red serranos tossed in for extra heat, with raw garlic of course

- and my píèce de resistance, about 3/5ths super-ripe cayennes and 2/5ths sweet red (and mild) jalapeños, blended with two fresh habaneros... and no garlic
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:14 AM on November 12, 2012 [9 favorites]


Seriously. How can you hate silly hats? Silly hats are the best.
posted by brundlefly at 11:14 AM on November 12, 2012


Let's just say that the end of the summer season has been really good to me.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:14 AM on November 12, 2012


MetaTalk
posted by Egg Shen at 11:15 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Huh. My hot sauce consisted of "whatever was left over from the pic-a-mix bag from the farmer's market after I made the chili pepper jelly", and the chili pepper jelly consisted of "all the red ones". I am impressed.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:16 AM on November 12, 2012


Matouk's flambeau sauce, which is brutally hot and delicious

This is the best thing ever in the world.
posted by Cocodrillo at 11:16 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Mod note: Everybody maybe chill with the hipster stuff, thank you.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:17 AM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


it's easy, too. basically you just make sauerkraut, but with peppers. all you need is a bucket, some salt, a half-eaten container of yogurt, a gallon bag full of saltwater (instead of a dedicated weight, naturally) and a cool place to stash them.

seriously. sauerkraut, but without the cabbage. go forth and make pickled things, MetaFilter!
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:17 AM on November 12, 2012


Wait, so I can use large portions of my homebrewing equipment to make five-gallon batches of hot sauce?

Sold!
posted by box at 11:21 AM on November 12, 2012


In the interest of distracting us from LOLHIPSTERS -

Gimme ideas for how to cook with hot sauces. I typically don't use it as a condiment and am much more likely to use it as an ingredient. I've got a little bottle of sriracha someone left behind, and I made a little jar of my own.

Also looking for ideas for hot chili pepper jelly, which I've also made. I actually have been meaning to try mixing it 1:1 with peanut butter and thinning that with a little soy sauce to make a satay glaze or Thai dipping sauce. Anyone try that?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:21 AM on November 12, 2012


Speaking of artisinal stuff and sriracha stuff, check out Baltimore's own Mobtown Meat Snacks and their sriracha beef jerky.
posted by josher71 at 11:23 AM on November 12, 2012


box, hell yes you can. I don't have any home-brewing stuff, but if you really want to, you can sterilize like you're going to do a yeast brew (starsan, etc) and use an airlock on your fermenter. That'll save you most of the hassle of skimming bloom/mold. You want to hold temperatures at ~65°F if you have temp control. I'd probably culture my lacto with something relatively fructose-heavy if I were going to avoid a stressed fermentation, but that's just a guess.

I have a dream of pairing up with a buddy of mine who brews and doing parallel fermentations with lactos cultured from the different grains he uses. Imagine the possibilities!
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:24 AM on November 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


Oh, because this is near-and-dear to my heart lately, ~5 lbs of peppers, sliced into rounds, will just about fill a 1 gal bucket. To properly fill a 5 gal bucket would take a whole lot of peppers.

The narrower your fermenter, the easier it will be to use a water bag as a weight, too - if I were trying a 5 gal bucket, I'd probably use something like a trashcan bag instead of a food storage bag.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 11:27 AM on November 12, 2012


Metafilter: Hipsters. What are they? Do they even exist? Are they annoying or the savior of all mankind? Are YOU a hipster without even realizing it?
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 11:28 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Seriously. How can you hate silly hats? Silly hats are the best.

F'realz, I've got multiple hats color-matched to different coats, and that's just in my 'fez' section.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:32 AM on November 12, 2012


When I see the word artisianal I reach for my revolver.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:35 AM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


That revolver would look great with some laser-cut filigrees and carved-hardwood grips and shit.

I know a guy on Etsy--check your MeMail.
posted by box at 11:46 AM on November 12, 2012 [9 favorites]


If we're on the topic of peppers/sauces: I've ended up with about five pounds of hatch chiles in my freezer, fire roasted and peeled before being divied up into half pound ziplocks. Any suggestions on what to do with them, aside from "put them on/in everything" (which has been the main advice received from my New Mexican acquaintances)?
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 11:57 AM on November 12, 2012


I recently pick up Wild Fermentation and have been going to town making various "kimchi" variations. It has blown me away how easy this actually is. Slice some vegetables, brine them in a 1 Tbsp salt:1 cup water solution for a few hours. Drain and mix with your spice paste (onions/grated ginger/hot peppers/fish sauce/...) then pack into a one litre jar. Cover with cheese cloth and let it sit on a shelf in the kitchen until done, tasting and pressing down into the brine once a day. When it tastes ready, put a lid on it and put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation.

I really enjoy the daily tasting as the progression through the flavour stages gives a great appreciation for the final product. My favourite that is on the go right now is red cabbage, swiss chard, carrots, radishes, habaneros, thai red dragons, grated ginger, garlic, and green onions. It's about four days into the ferment right now and the sourness is starting to pick up.

One thing that you have to be sure of when using fish sauce, chili paste etc. is to not use anything that has chemical preservatives in it. This will kill all the good little bacteria.
posted by vansly at 11:58 AM on November 12, 2012 [6 favorites]


All these sauces sound delicious, but is no one going to show me how to make artisianal TUMS?

the illegal underground grilled cheese and lobster roll businesses in NY that are run practically like drug delivery services, you meet a dude in an alley and he sells you a grilled cheese sandwich.

This is pretty much how I get my hands on the best half-sour pickles.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:04 PM on November 12, 2012


I think this is finally where Metafilter will finally settle it: Hipsters. What are they? Do they even exist? Are they annoying or the savior of all mankind? Are YOU a hipster without even realizing it?

Not me, man. I'm the illest motherfucker from here to Gardena. And let me tell you, it's exhausting.
posted by gompa at 12:57 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Can we redirect some of this hipster hate towards the people who insist on calling it "cock sauce?" Because that is gross.

If someone is calling Sriracha "cock sauce", they are mad wrong. This is cock sauce
posted by breath at 1:04 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Sriracha's pretty decent, and I'm curious about her pepper sauces, but I've been kinda baffled by the blow-up and backlash around it.

I guess, despite the yuppie pretention that it requires, I'm glad to live in a country that has enough surplus to support someone making artisanal Asian hot sauce.
posted by klangklangston at 2:41 PM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


If someone is calling Sriracha "cock sauce", they are mad wrong. This is cock sauce

I don't think I've ever been more afraid to click on a link on this site.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 3:16 PM on November 12, 2012 [11 favorites]


Relevant: Be careful when you Kickstart sauces.
posted by oulipian at 4:47 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


EmpressC, I just made my annual batch of your chilli pepper jelly yesterday, with naga jolokias again. Thanks again for the recipe and getting me started on canning.

Any chilli stronger than a jalepno is restricted to condiments in our home because my wife doesn't like the hot hot heat. I use the jelly on PB&Js and it's great along with a cheese plate. We don't eat meat but I imagine it'd be good on lamb or pork. Today I was wondering if I should try it in jelly thumbprint cookies.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:01 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


hydrophonic, pepper jelly in thumbprint cookies made of cornmeal is amazing so DO IT.
posted by rhiannonstone at 8:51 PM on November 12, 2012 [2 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos: Screw sriracha, I want someone to show me how to make my own Tabasco.

From the Joy of Cooking: http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe/fermented-louisiana-style-hot-sauce

gauche: I've been hearing more and more about people making clone velveeta and budweiser-style beer sorts of things lately.

From America's Test Kitchen: http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/do-it-yourself/2011/09/how-to-make-american-cheese/

Aside: it seems like I can't find proper hot, red chilies in Madison WI for like the last few months, and I'm jonzing for some hot sauce over the winter. Midway Asian Foods had some tiny red chilies, but I'm looking for something much more substantial.
posted by wormwood23 at 9:27 PM on November 12, 2012


Huh, speaking of America's test kitchen - I've discovered it's well worth making a sriracha sauce at home. I didn't realize I was engaged in some sort of cultural thing by doing this it just sounded tasty, and sure enough.

I always have too many jalapeños in their garden season and it worked great for me to just pick what green ones I needed for cooking and leave the rest to ripen on the plant. America's Test Kitchen recipe worked out great for me, you can adjust the heat as you like by leaving seeds in more of the peppers (I left two giving a pleasant but not dominating heat).

I found the comments about sriracha sauces in this article informative, among other things the fact that I'd been mispronouncing it for 15 years.
posted by nanojath at 9:31 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


some tiny red chilies

If those tiny chilies were Thai bird peppers, they're plenty substantial.
posted by kenko at 9:38 PM on November 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


mr. naga is brutally spicy (AND SO GOOD) you can pretty much find that stuff at any bengali market. there are quite a few in NYC's jackson heights area and a healthy cluster in LA's koreatown.

Alas, I am in Chicago and have not found any yet despite doing a completely cursory search.
posted by srboisvert at 9:39 PM on November 12, 2012


It's really annoying, and makes me want my $5 bucks back.

Sounds like a Kickstarter project.

This is Ted. He drives a Jetta, is underemployed in social media, and has been trying to grow that beard for a good seven weeks now.

Ted desperately needs your help to buy a cigar box to make a guitar so he can take pictures of it with Instagram. For just $5, he'll go away and never, ever come back to complain about people harshing on his glassless glasses, his popcorn maker-roasted yirgacheffe, or those socks he got on Etsy.

Won't you please help Ted? Your small contribution can make a big difference.

Thank you.

posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:25 AM on November 13, 2012 [2 favorites]


fleetmouse, I'd recommend Baron's West Indian Hot Sauce. Everywhere I went in SW St. Lucia it was on the table (in homes and local restaurants) and it seemed most popular with fish. It's reasonably hot, has that fruity scotch bonnet flavor, and isn't super mustardy despite the mustard base. I was about to despair that mine is almost gone, but it's now available from a couple of places online.
posted by GodricVT at 8:07 AM on November 13, 2012 [3 favorites]


Oh wow, that looks terrific! I haven't seen it around here but will keep my eye out and ask for it by name.
posted by fleetmouse at 11:32 AM on November 13, 2012


I myself dabble in high-end artisanal tuna fish sandwiches.

*Wince*

Leave the poor tuna alone, they're nearly extinct as they are.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:56 PM on November 13, 2012


Glad I got people introduced to canning, but I should clarify that that recipe referenced above isn't my own invention - I got it from this book, which is actually pretty awesome. And the author's blog has an even more awesome title - Pie and Beer.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:03 PM on November 13, 2012 [1 favorite]


It's all your fault, Metafilter. I went to Harris Teeter and paid too much (over four dollars a bottle!) for a bottle of rooster sauce. Never really even heard of it before here.



Metafilter, I love you.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 3:49 PM on November 13, 2012 [4 favorites]


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