The Sriracha chili sauce has become the
must-have condiment for the millions
people out there who will to make a
trade-off between a scorched tongue and
the sauce’s unique spicy garlicky flavor.
Everyone who’s tried it knows that it’s
good on everything, and by everything,
you literally mean everything.
But what is it about this sauce
gives it its spicy kick?
The basic ingredients this Sriracha
are fresh ground red chilies, vinegar,
garlic, salt and sugar.
Now inside those red chilies is a
group of molecules called capsaicinoids.
Within this group, two molecules pack
up in ninety five percent the blistering
punch: Capsaicin and dihhydrocapsaicin.
These two molecules trigger the trpv1
receptor protein in our mouths, which
usually responds to scolding temperatures
above one hundred nine degrees Fahrenheit,
thus causing the spicy hot sensation.
Then the body responds to capsaicin burn by
releasing a painful endorphin rush kinda’
like the one a jogger feels after a long run.
Capsaicin is naturally found in
the plant genus capsicum, which is
fancy science latin for peppers.
Bell, Aleppo, Habanero, Tabasco, Cayenne,
Poblano, Serrano, you name it,
they're all the caps congenus.
And although these peppers are closely
related, there's a big difference between
the heat of each of these peppers.
So how can we use science to measure
which pepper is more spicy than another?
In 1912, a clever pharmacist named Wilbur
Scoville devised a heat measurements scale
less cleverly named, “the Scoville scale.”
This scale ranges from 0 Scoville heat units
all the way up to 16 million, which is
the end point for pure capsaicin.
Basically, Scoville would extract the
capsaicin out of pepper and diluted it
with a solution sugar and water until the
heat was undetectable by taste tester.
Every additional dilution increases the scale.
So for example, a bell pepper at zero would
not be diluted at all, while a jalapeno pepper
that rest around four thousand Scoville counts,
would be diluted four thousand times.
This measurement scale has been criticized
due to the subjective perspective of
taste testers and more modern approaches
to measuring have been advised.
High-performance liquid chromatography
is a method accurately measuring the
concentration of capsaicinoids in a pepper.
This form of spice measurement doesn't use
Scoville units, but instead, American
Spice Trade Association Pungency unit.
One pungency unit is equal to about one
fifteenth of a Scoville unit and are
actually a parts-per-million count of
capsaicin in a particular pepper.
So then, where does Sriracha fall
within the Scoville scale?
Depending on the crop of peppers used,
Sriracha can range from 1000
to 2500 Scoville units.
To put that in perspective Tabasco sauce
runs anywhere between 2,500 and 5,000,
while Texas Pete hot sauce is around 750 and
habanero pepper contains upwards to 350,000.
Now that's a lot of capsaicin.
Sriracha also contains two extra compounds:
potassium sorbate and sodium bisulfite
that help maintain its long shelf
life and vibrant red color.
Potassium sorbate inhibits the growth molds
and yeast in the product and is found in
other foods, such as dairy product, wine,
dried fruits and meats and juices.
Sodium bisulfite on the other hand,
stops the natural browning reaction that
occurs when fresh produce is oxidized,
giving each bottle of Sriracha that
lasting highly distinguished red color.
Three ingredients that greatly add
to Sriracha flavor: salt, garlic and vinegar,
also act as a natural antimicrobial
preservative that keep the bottle
long-lasting, even without refrigeration.
This is a really great fact know, but
it's pretty much useless because
as far as we understand,
it's impossible for a bottle of
Sriracha to go bad without having
eating it all, because again - it
goes good on absolutely everything.
