Huy Fong's Rooster brand of chili sauces have become synonymous with Vietnamese food in America. In recipes, you'll see it listed as Vietnamese chili sauce or Sriracha chili sauce. When you go to a pho restaurant, the Sriracha bottle is on the table.
Upon reading the latest Quick Bites ("We Don't Look and Cook the Same") newsletter, Josh Levine sent me this email:
I have been enjoying Rooster brand sauces but would prefer a version without sodium benzoate (the preservative). Have you heard of someone selling such a preservative-free product -- preferably Huy Fong?
While I pride myself in reproducing some of Vietnam's best dishes such as Pho and Green Papaya salad, I would prefer to buy rather than make the above-referenced sauce.
Any sources or ideas applicable to the NYC area? I checked the Hong Kong Market in South Plainfield (a huge place) with no luck.
So if your child is super hyper and not willing/able to focus, you may want to cut down on foods containing food coloring and preservatives. Coloring is important in Asian cooking and in the Vietnamese kitchen, annatto is a natural colorant but cooks also like to use heavy doses of bottled food coloring. It' s not uncommon to see large (4 ounces or so) size bottles of food coloring at Viet grocery stores. Whenever I shop for Chinese egg noodles, I inspect the label and select ones without coloring.
Often times, especially if you consume lots of prepared and/or packaged foods, you simply can't avoid coloring and preservatives. That's not to say you're going to immediately suffer strange side effects. What's important to keep in mind is toxicity level -- how much of these additives are you putting into your body? Eat too much of something and there's bound to be a negative side effect.
For instance, my mother uses a light to moderate amount of MSG in her cooking but I've never (or yet) noticed any strange health effects. On the other hand, I've suffered headaches and a racing heart after loading up on cheap dim sum laden with MSG.
To answer Josh's question, I wouldn't worry much about the sodium benzoate in the chili sauce unless he was using tons of it every day over a long period of time. For me, not consuming tons of processed foods is the best strategy to keep those additives out of my system.
Is the Rooster even necessary?
Another thing about those chile sauces -- they're not required for good (authentic!) Vietnamese food. Just use fresh kickin' hot chiles -- either Thai, serranos, or whatever you can get your hands on. That's what you'd get at many restaurants in Vietnam and at my house. I keep Sriracha and the chili garlic sauce in my fridge but reach for certain dishes (see Ashley's comment and my response below; this edit reflects her correction of my position) or only if I'm feeling absolutely lazy and need a short cut to heat.
A well crafted pho noodle soup broth would be killed by the addition of vinegary-hot Sriracha and sweet hoisin sauce. Add a slice or two of hot chile. (With the blandish jalapenos that restaurants in America offer, I add 3 or 4 slices.) For dipping sauces and dressings, the coarse chili garlic sauce is a fine addition for when you're in a pinch. But why not chop up (or pound with a mortar and pestle) chiles and garlic instead? The flavor will be fresh and free of food color and preservatives.
Whenever I'm at a Vietnamese restaurant in the States, I ask for fresh chile (ot hiem, pronounced "uht hee-em") and shun the prepared sauces because they make all the food taste the same. At home, I keep chiles frozen in zip top bag. They're stored in my freezer door where I can get to them in a flash!
Frozen chiles keep for at least 6 months. At farmers' markets right now, you should be able to score on lots of chiles. Or, purchase a bunch at an Asian market. Regardless, think long term and lay in a supply for the cool months ahead.
Related links worth wandering to:
- Josh has great photos of ethnic minorities in Vietnam at his site: joshlevine.org (click on Vietnam's Cloud people)
- Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce recipe (posted on 10/10/07)
Ashley says
Wow! Interesting photos of Vietnamese Cloud People by Josh Levine. I learned some new things about Vietnam: 80 million people?! Very populated for such a small country. Funny that the Cloud People don't even know that they're Vietnamese and they don't even speak Vietnamese. Interesting photos. Thanks, Josh.
Ashley says
Hi, Andrea.
You said that it's better if we use fresh or frozen chilis rather than Huy Fong's Sriracha chili sauce. Does this apply to ALL the recipes in your book that require Huy Fong's Sriracha chili sauce? For example, your "shrimp in spicy tamarind sauce" recipe (page 113) requires Huy Fong's Sriracha chili sauce. Would this recipe taste the same if we use fresh or frozen chilis? I agree with you that Sriracha chili sauce and Hoisin sauce would ruin the flavor of a great bowl of pho. I pref
Andrea Nguyen says
Hi Ashley --- You are a careful reader and I appreciate that. You're absolutely right, in my book I specify using the Huy Fong sauces in a few recipes. In the posting above, I'm speaking to the prevailing notion that the Huy Fong sauces are the end all and be all, the most authentic, the best way of heating up Vietnamese food.
These days, restaurants define Vietnamese food to many people and just because there's a jar or bottle of chili sauce out there doesn't mean that it's the appropriate seas
Kevin says
I can't imagine eating so much rooster chili sauce that the preservatives are a problem. I think my body would revolt from the heat-overload and/or pain far before the preservative would do any damage. That said, I now keep chilis in the freezer too! Ooh. You mentioned caramel sauce. I ran out, and have to make more. Maybe a double or triple batch this time...
Simon says
Andrea, there are some people in the West who can't imagine eating French Fries without ketchup, and others who scratch their heads about the ketchup and insist French Fries must have malt vinegar on them. Or must only be accompanied by mayonnaise. Me, I don't care about the Fries but I really must have some Sriracha and Hoisin for my beef Pho. In the broth, and also in my little dipping bowl set next to my big Pho bowl. Just have to have it. 🙂
As for jalapenos, for some reason American g
ttran says
Andrea,
Unless I am missing something, the preservative listed on the two bottles(chili & siracha) in my kitchen show "sodium bisulfate" not "sodium benzoate." I didn't see a reference to "sodium bisulfate" in that NY Times article. I am not implying here that "sodium bisulfate" is harmless if consumed, just wanted to point out the distinction. Interestingly enough here are some primary uses listed for "sodium bisulfate"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bisulfate
* Household cleaners
* Silv
Andrea Nguyen says
Well, I admit it. The only time I have Srirach and hoisin sauce with pho is when I mix those two things together to dip my beef meatballs. Otherwise, I like to have the broth my way -- that's without the extra sauces. To each his/her own.
Sodium bisulfate gives a new cleansing meaning to Sriracha and Chili-garlic sauce. How do you pickle silver?
Lili says
Yeah, the only time I have the Sriracha is the 1tsp in the dipping dish with the hoisin and the couple of squirts into my Banh Mi sandwich.
My aunt makes a great Chili-garlic sauce that I'm pretty sure doesn't contain any preservatives. I think the large amount of sugar in her sauce is more than adequate for preserving the chili. And we store it in the fridge for immediate use or in the freezer for longer storage.
Maybe the take home lesson is all is good in moderation, or make your own chili
Chuck says
Fresh chili peppers are definitely the way to go. There's no point of masking well prepared food with the vinegar and sugar found in the rooster sauces.
I always have either fresh or frozen Thai, habanero or rooster spur chilies at home. Instead of the chili garlic sauce, I prefer making my own by pureeing fresh chilies. The shelf life is shorter than rooster sauce but it's pure, wonderful heat.
These days, I actually bring my own chilies to restaurants, if I can remember. The salty, oily chili
Andrea Nguyen says
Now Lili and Chuck, we ALL WANT recipes for your homemade versions. There's a Vietnamese-style sate chile sauce on this blog that was sent in from Atlanta:
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/07/lemongrass-chil.html
But Lili, how does your aunt make hers?
Chuck, what do rooster spur chilies look like? And do you just use the puree straight? Let us know!
The only other person I know of who brings her own chilies to a restaurant is Mrs. Hieu, my mother's 70-something-year old friend. Lov
Michelle says
I'm glad to get validation on the no hoisin sauce/ srichacha thing in a perfect bowl of pho. I like to leave it out, but my mom, who is a purist in her own right on may things, complains "That is not the true Vietnamese way."
Lili says
This is what I can remember from watching her a few years ago:
- grind up fresh ripe chilis (I can't say which she uses, she grows it in her backyard), in a blender, I think.
- then into a huge wok where she adds crushed garlic and lots of sugar.
- she cooks it up, stirring with her spatula, until it's cooked.
- the sauce goes into large plastic or glass containers, whatever she's managed to find/recycle.
- These jars go into the freezer.
Sorry, I don't have more details or measurements, and I h
Chuck says
My parents created the homemade chili garlic sauce and of course, they also do everything by eye. I've been trying to document their recipes before they are lost. Here's the recipe...
Fills a 26 oz spaghetti jar
- 1 to 1.5 lbs of habanero peppers
- 1/2 bulb of garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup of white vinegar
Puree in a blender. You can cut the heat by adding red bell peppers and using less hot peppers. Or you can use red Thai chili peppers or any other red pepper at your desired hea
Andrea Nguyen says
Lili and Chuck, Many thanks for passing along your family's hot secrets! That's a great way to use the summer's soon-to-be-gone crop of chiles. Hmmmmm... I'm sweating as I ponder making a batch of each of these.
So rooster spur peppers look like small versions of Thai chiles. Thanks for the link.
Josh Levine says
What a useful and interesting thread, thanks Andrea for posting it -- also glad to share those Vietnam photos with this community so thanks again...
So, my conclusion based on my original query about preservative-free sauces? (I didn't include the fact that this sauce is currently the only food we eat regularly *with* preservatives, partly b/c I guess that older food has duller tastes, so I was trying to get it off that list) > > > > I am inspired by Lili and Chuck to try and make the sauce -- a
Andrea Nguyen says
Josh, you started all of this and it's just fabulous. Yep, let's try out Lili and Chuck's homemade sauce and see... Again, thanks for the photos of the hill tribe peoples.
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I love spicy foods and this sauce is one of the best. Definitely this sauces would have additives. It can have a bad effect to us, but it still depends on how we consume them.
David Sternlight says
I don't want Sodium Bisulfite in my Sriracha sauce. The reason it is in Huy Fongs, I believe, is that restaurants leave the bottles sitting at room temperature on the tables all day and much of the night. It is often used to prevent browning. But note especially (Wikipedia) "In the 1980s, sodium bisulfite was banned from use on raw fruits and vegetables in the United States following the deaths of 13 people who unknowingly consumed produce treated with excessive amounts of the substance[10]."
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I love spicy foods and this sauce is one of the best. Definitely this sauces would have additives.