BB’s doin’ the Sriracha Cha cha

I have stumbled upon the best hot sauce in the whole wide world! Seriously. I wasn’t even looking for the best hot sauce at the time; I just wanted to bump up my beans a bit and bump them I did. In fact, I did the bumpitty bump. The stuff made me strut like a rooster and I’m not sure, but I think my testosterone level went up, like seven points also.

I say I stumbled upon this (come to find out) well-known bright red volcanic liquid, because no one handed me a bottle and admonished me to try it. To be humble and honest, I stole some of it out of the reefer at work and after nuking my homemade secret recipe pinto bean mélange; I squirted what has always been my normal and palate-safe copious amount of heat-producing culinary elixir hot sauce on top of my ultra-delicious steaming beans and squirted a bit more for “the effect”.

Bellying up to the lunch trough/table, elbows firmly planted in the on-your-mark-get-set...go! position, I dug in with mucho gusto. My first indication that Sriracha (pronounced Sir-rotch-ah) was a tad different than say, Louisiana hot sauce, or Tabasco, was the inordinate amount of gasping, coughing and throat grabbing I found myself involved in. Then to my utter amazement, the lava effect went away almost as fast as it started and I found myself getting a warm feeling throughout my whole body. My toes even twitched, but it was a good twitch.

I cautiously took another bite and danged if it didn’t happen all over again, including the heat up and let down. From that moment on, I was addicted. Everyone I talked to said the same thing “Oh, yea. That rooster sauce is killer, man (dude, fella, fool). Where have I been that I didn’t know about this reddish chili concoction that has seven layers of flavor, including at least two which bring you to the point of asphyxiation and euphoria?

After about three more bites, I experienced an involuntary psychomotor reflex from my tongue to my feet, or what is commonly referred to as “happy feet”. Truth be told, I came this close to breaking into a Texas version of the cha-cha, but seeing how I was in the breakroom at work, I had to settle for heavy toe-twitching inside my steel-toed boots.

I’ve been calling it Vietnamese hot sauce, for lack of education on the subject, but come to find out it is more American than Asian. It’s made and distributed by Huy Fong Foods out L.A. California way and is officially named Tuong Ot Sriracha or Sriracha Chile Sauce. David Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant brought the family recipe with him when he fled South Vietnam during the last days of it’s independence back in 1975 and set up shop here in the USA.

Since I’ve become a fan of Los Toritos tamales on N. Main Street, in historic Baytown, I can’t wait to tump a dab of this delicious concoction on my tamales! In fact, I can’t wait to try this sauce in my homemade BB's Texican chili, which is a work in progress and destined to be a perpetual winner at the family get-togethers at the Byrd Sanctuary out Dayton way. I humbly submit the fact that I won last year in the best traditional category with 2 awards – one of which I gave myself. Like I said, it’s a work in progress and with my new secret rooster–brand weapon, I can say with confidence the future is looking pretty molten and red.

Speaking of chili, I like mine with lots of 1015 onion, or Vidalia if the 1015 is not available. I always throw a handful of pickled jalapenos in the pot too for color and zesty goodness. I like to keep it real. Some well-intentioned folk’s claim that Texas chili should be devoid of beans, but dang it all, I like beans in mine. I like em so much I put red, pinto and black beans in my chili. Call me a rebel if you will, but that’s why I call it BB’s Texican chili. I like to have Fritos handy too and shredded cheese and I might even add crispy bacon as a side dish this next time...and a squirt bottle of Tuong Ot Sriracha aka “the Rooster” so folks can reach Nirvana, or whatever place they are wont to go when food heaven is reached. I might even lay out dancing shoes.