There's more than one iconic red condiment in this country besides ketchup, and while it has a bit of a tumultuous history, it remains a popular item in fridges and restaurants around the world. Sriracha is made in a massive factory in California, and in a new video, Refinery 29 takes a look at each step that goes into making this flavorful sauce.
Sriracha is made from a red jalapeño-hybrid chile pepper, and approximately 100,000,000 pounds of peppers pass through Sriracha's 650,000-square-foot factory in Irwindale, California each year. The chilis are ground, mixed with ingredients including vinegar, salt, and later garlic and sugar to produce the final sauce, which is then pumped into the recognizable rooster-stamped bottles and topped with the classic green Sriracha cap. The plastic bottles are also made in this factory.
The spicy sauce once stirred up controversy after people in the SoCal area surrounding the factory complained about odors emitted during chile grinding season. That battle ended in May of 2014 when the inventor of Sriracha and Huy Fong Foods founder David Tran agreed to mitigate odors and make changes to the system to prevent future issues. That same month, Eater took a tour of the factory to learn about the process and smell those fresh-ground chilis.
• Sriracha Battle Over: City Council Drops Lawsuit and Public Nuisance Declaration [E]
• Take a Tour of the Sriracha Factory in California [E]
