The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
Hot sauce lovers likely already know that the iconic Huy Fong Foods sriracha is super tough to find at grocery stores in Canada, but there's hope out there — I found a dupe.
According to CNBC, Huy Fong Foods has been going through a shortage of the product for the past three years, which has led to many Canadians having to either pay exorbitant prices online or forego the beloved condiment.
I recently visited Loblaws, Metro and Bluesky Supermarket to see if I could find Huy Fong Foods sriracha, and while I was unsuccessful at that venture, I did find quite a few other srirachas.
To see if any of them are as good as the Huy Fong Foods hot sauce, I bought all of the srirachas I was able to find and gave them a taste test.
In terms of judging criteria, I'll be ranking them on a spice level out of 5 with a 3 being where I'd say Huy Fong Foods' sauce falls in terms of spice. In terms of taste, I'll be ranking them out of 5 on how close they taste to the popular hot sauce which is garlicky, floral and super smooth in flavour.
And for how I'll be trying them, I'm going to do a dab on my finger and then a squeeze on a bite of homemade mushroom noodle stir fry.
Flying Goose
Flying Goose brand sriracha.
I really didn't like this hot sauce. I personally didn't find it to have any kind of spice, and to be sure it wasn't just me, I asked my boyfriend to taste it and his take on it is that it has a sweet flavour but no heat.
On the bite of food I had, it didn't add anything to the taste of my meal and overall it feels like a waste of $6.50, particularly given how large it is and how long it's going to end up sitting in my fridge for.
Spice level: 1/5
Taste: 1/5
Price: $6.49 (for 730 mL)
Price per 100 grams: $0.89
Kikkoman
Kikkoman sriracha.
I had pretty high hopes for this sauce given that it's from Kikkoman, which is a super popular producer of a delicious soy sauce.
I didn't dislike this hot sauce per se, but it didn't give me the taste I was looking for. According to Kikkoman, their sriracha is made with their Gluten-Free Tamari Soy Sauce which is supposed to add a dash of umami.
The umami flavour isn't unpleasant, but it has more of a fish sauce and acrid burnt garlic taste in comparison to the smoothness and richness of the Huy Fong Foods sriracha.
As well, the way the bottle is configured is kind of annoying — the hole of the bottle is too large and it's therefore hard to control how much product you squeeze out.
Spice level: 3/5
Taste: 2/5
Price: $5.59 (for 250 mL)
Price per 100 grams: $2.24
Lee Kum Kee
Lee Kum Kee sriracha chili sauce.
When I first tasted the Lee Kum Kee sriracha sauce, I immediately started coughing (and I'm pretty good with spice), so if you're looking for a bit of heat, this is a pretty good option.
"What Lee Kum Kee Sriracha Chili Sauce delivers is a pleasant garlic kick with a blend of tangy undertones, a hint of sweetness, and a fiery aftertaste-- this is Asian fusion in a bottle," says the product's website, which I'm not sure I agree with.
What I got from this sauce was a vinegary, floral taste that's somewhat overpowering but I definitely couldn't taste the garlic. That being said, while I wouldn't buy this sauce again, I wouldn't be mad at it as an option if it was presented at a restaurant table.
Spice level: 4/5
Taste: 2/5
Price: $4.79 (for 445 mL)
Price per 100 grams: $1.08
Tabasco
Tabasco sriracha sauce.
I had no idea Tabasco does sriracha, and I found the entire experience with this sauce to be delightful.
"Our premium sriracha sauce is rich, bold, and perfect for any meal," says Tabasco of the product. "In one bite, you’ll have sweet and savoury notes of red jalapeño peppers with a smooth garlic finish."
It tastes like garlicky ketchup with the pureness of the flavour of Tabasco, and I really enjoyed how well-balanced the ingredients paired with each other.
In fact, it's probably my favourite of all of the sauces I tried, but given the parameters of the taste test, I'm giving it a medium score for taste as it's somewhat similar to Huy Fong Foods sriracha but not super close.
Spice level: 2/5
Taste: 3.5/5
Price: $6.99 (for 256 mL)
Price per 100 grams: $2.73
Uni-Eagle
Uni-Eagle sriracha hot chilli sauce.
With its green cap, the Uni-Eagle sriracha most visually resembles Huy Fong Foods product and also happens to taste the closest to the iconic sauce.
It has some heat, but more in a pleasantly warming way rather than a very spicy attack.
"Sriracha Hot Shilli Sauce has well selected from the premium sun-ripened chillies which is prized for its warm, burning sensation when eaten," says the bottle.
This sauce is smooth, well-balanced and tastes like the sauce that I used to drizzle over my pizza, instant noodles and most of the bland food served at my university campuses.
I'd say it's probably a teeny-tiny bit less spicy than Huy Fong Foods, but I wouldn't say that's a negative at all.
If you're looking for a solid dupe for the currently out-of-stock sriracha everyone loves that's sold at a pretty decent price point, I highly recommend Uni-Eagle sriracha!
Spice level: 2.5/5
Taste: 4.5/5
Price: $5.49 (for 730 mL)
Price per 100 grams: $0.75
In terms of other hot sauces you can pick up at Canadian grocery stores, I recently also tested Frank's RedHot Original, Grace Hot Pepper Sauce, Tabasco Original Red Sauce, Cholula Original Hot Sauce and Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp to see which sauce is the tastiest.
Next up? We're going to taste test the Canadian hot sauces that have been on Hot Ones, stay tuned!
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
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