Wishing you and your family a safe and Happy Holiday.
Happy Holidays
Wishing you and your family a safe and Happy Holiday.
Month: December 2013
Sriracha fans: Should we be worried?
City, state regulators could bring unhappy ending to what was an immigrant success story.
Thanks to the city of Irwindale and the state of California, a thriving immigrant-owned company faces the possibility of serious financial damage, and fans of a popular local food product will face shortages or be driven to alternatives from other parts of the country. This sends the wrong message to Southern California businesses.
Sriracha Hot Sauce has been a rare local business success story in recent years. Created by David Tran, an immigrant from Vietnam who came to California in 1980, the bright red sauce in the clear plastic bottle emblazoned with a signature rooster logo has become a staple in restaurants and fast-food outlets. Not exactly a Chinese-, Thai- or Vietnamese-style condiment, Sriracha is a Southern California original, combining the fiery traditions of many cultures. The company has branched out with Sriracha Candy Canes, Sriracha Potato Chips, and even a new Sriracha-flavored vodka. Enthusiasts held the first annual “Sriracha Festival” Oct. 27 in Downtown Los Angeles.
Then, the day after the Sriracha festival in October, the San Gabriel Valley city of Irwindale, where Sriracha maker Huy Fong Foods has an almost-new $40 million plant, sued to shut it down. It should be noted that Irwindale courted Huy Fong to the city in the first place with a low-interest loan.
Irwindale alleged that fumes from the factory were causing “burning eyes, irritated throats and headaches” among nearby residents, and Huy Fong Foods was ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien in late November to cease all odor-causing activities. Luckily, the year’s production was largely finished, so repercussions at that time were limited; but worse was yet to come.
The California Department of Public Health decided this month to enforce stricter guidelines that require the manufacturer to halt shipments for 30 days to make sure the sauce is safe, even though the Department freely admits that there have been no complaints or incidents of tainted sauce to trigger such heavy-handed and costly enforcement.
The Sriracha supply in the marketplace will not recover until mid-January, at the earliest.
Sauce lovers have panicked. A single packet of hot sauce, billed as “the last,” was offered on eBay for $10,000. Numerous food and culture blogs are posting advice for how to deal with what they call “The Great Sriracha Shortage” and promoting alternatives, including a different sauce made in Brooklyn, New York.
What we are seeing play out is governments’ abuse of a successful, popular, uniquely Southern California enterprise.
Irwindale has less than 1,500 residents, and its best-known feature has been more than a dozen large gravel pits. Reportedly, the smell complaints, which the Irwindale city attorney told the Los Angeles Times numbered around 20 to 30, originated with the son of a city councilman.
Whatever the root cause, the message is unfortunate: Southern California is hostile toward business. State and local officials are happy to help favored companies – some of questionable viability. But small and midsize businesses, the main driver of our national economy, can expect to encounter regulations that can be both crushing and ever-changing.
Huy Fong Foods is an example of everything that once was right about California, but is fast becoming a victim of much of what’s wrong in the state.
Sriracha chili sauce bottles are produced at the Huy Fong Foods factory in Irwindale.
The Scoop from ChunkNChip
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NEW OC GFT: Porko Rico BBQ
Porko Rico BBQ is brought you by Luis Flores, the creator of The Viking Truck (@TheVikingtruck), one of OC’s wacky food truck establishments.
Luis comes from a puerto rican and danish background, which explains the first truck: the Viking Truck. Now Luis wants to try to bring some Caribbean flavors to OC in a non intrusive way, so he decided on BBQ, with three signature sauces made from scratch. The first is the Citrus BBQ sauce, a very classic sauce with a lemon lime twist. The second is a mango gold sauce, fruity and tangy and a little chunky almost like a chutney. Finally, the Jerk BBQ sauce is sweet and spicy with fresh habanero (just a little). Luis’ goal is to expand his small, but tasty menu, to rice bowls, as puerto rican rice and beans is a staple of the island cuisine.
Below is their current menu that is getting a lot of love and great feedback (photos to follow soon!)
Current Menu
- Pilager Pulled Pork- Classic BBQ staple, our with Mango Coleslaw and our signature Citrus BBQ sauce.
- Black Beard’s Brisket- 16 hour smoked Brisket with our trio pepper onion medley that is caramelized in Captain Morgan Rum, served with our mango gold sauce.
- Cutlass Supreme- Smoked Chicken Sausage, Grilled pineapple, Spicy Jerk BBQ sauce, and fresh green onion (Luis’ favorite!)
- Shipwreck Grilled Cheese- Brisket, Coconut pesto, fire roasted tomato, munster and mozzarella cheese, on thick cut egg bread.
Sides
- Captain Porko Fries- French Fries with pulled pork, mango coleslaw, pineapple baked beans, and our citrus bbq sauce (Fan Favorite so far)
- Pineapple Baked Beans- Slow roasted black beans with fresh pineapple ,
- Veggie Chorizo, herbs and spices.
- Tostones (Still Perfecting)- Twice fried green plantains with Garlic Mojo Sauce.
Dessert
- Sweet Maduros- (Still perfecting) Ripe Plantains quick fried with a sweet spice dusting, whip cream, and coconut caramel sauce.
Due to lack of space and the ever changing process of food trucks some items may be missing certain days but we are working hard to make these and a ton more items amazing.
Follow them on twitter at @Porkoricobbq
looking for food trucks 