Saturday, June 20, 2009

Only In America

Everyone in this family loves Sriracha chili sauce. We use it in everything from pho to scrambled eggs - basically any dish that you want to smack with garlic and light up with some heat.

Here is an interesting article from The New York Times about the Tran family that invented and produces Sriracha. The Tran's immigrated to the United States from Vietnam and are of Chinese ancestry. The chili sauce they make in the US is named after an area of Thailand. But the quote from the story which really made me think "Only in America" was this (emphasis added):

"In 1996, the company expanded, adding processing and storage capacity to meet demand. More than 10 million bottles of sriracha now roll off the Rosemead line each year. With the purchase of a nearby warehouse, the company has begun storing its peppers where Wham-O once manufactured those icons of pop culture, Frisbees and Hula-Hoops."

Awesome.

2 comments:

Marlipern said...

I love Sriracha chili sauce!

As a matter of fact, I just bought some yesterday at Tink Holl market at 36th & Payne (one of the better Chinese markets in Cleveland).

Wow, from Frisbees to Chinese hot sauce...

Maybe they should come out with a new product called "Wham-O" sauce. Kinda catchy, don't you think?

Country Squire said...

Wham-O Sauce works for me. Descriptive and much easier to say than Sriracha. Marketing, marketing, marketing.