Sriracha Seasoned Salt

Written By Brad English

I met Randy Clemens at a baking class Peter was teaching at a Sir La Table here in Los Angeles. We were just getting Pizza Quest going and Peter was out on a teaching tour.  Peter introduced me to Randy, who had come to visit with him, after the class.  Peter had connected Randy with his publisher and Randy told us that he was close to finishing his first book cookbook.  I loved the idea.  It was a cookbook about using Sriracha Sauce.  I love that sauce.

Well, it turns out Randy published his book.  It’s called The Sriracha Cookbook. I have to admit, I had meant to get a copy of the book, but as life goes, I just hadn’t gotten around to it.  However, while browsing the internet I recently stumbled on one of the recipes from the book.  It was for a Sriracha Seasoned Salt.

It didn’t take me 5 minutes to go to the cupboard and pull out my box of Kosher Salt and start measuring up a double batch of the stuff.  I put it into a couple of canning jars and gave one to a friend and kept the other.  Ever since then I’ve been finding ways to use this salt rather than just plain salt in any recipe, or as a final seasoning topping to any dish.  It is a great way to add a little spice to a dish in a unique way.  I use it on nearly everything that I’d use salt on.  You haven’t noticed, and I have been waiting to say too much about it until I posted my version of the recipe here on the site, but I use it all the time on my pizzas!

 

The Sriracha Salt is spicy, but in a more flavorful way, if that makes any sense.  In other words, it’s more flavorful than it is spicy.  The balance between the salt and flavors and spiciness is perfect (for me anyway).  It’s like when you sauté up some jalapeños.  The heat is mellowed and you are left with a nice flavor with a toned down heat factor.

I recently even substituted this salt into a Pizza Dough recipe and it definitely added a subtle flavor (I’ll post that dough recipe next week). You could sense a slight little spicy note trying to whisper at you through the dough.  You may not even notice it if you weren’t aware of it, because there’s relatively little salt in the dough, but to me, half the fun of cooking is experimenting and trying something that is new, or interesting.  You could just add Sriracha sauce to your food, but having Randy’s Sriracha Salt around gives you another element to play with when trying to create fun and interesting things to eat and share.

I have the book on my list of things to get!  I suggest you track it down too.

 

Sriracha Salt

– 1/2 cup of Kosher Salt

– 5 teaspoons of Sriracha Sauce (with the rooster on the label!)

 

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees F.

Add the Sriracha Sauce to the salt and mix well.

Spread the salt/sauce mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Spread it as thinly as possible so that it will dry out.

Place the pan in the oven and turn off the heat.  Leave it in the oven overnight.  As the salt dries, it will clump up.  Before storing, place it in a bag, or crumble it in your hands in a

bowl to break it up into individual crystals.

I keep mine in a glass canning jar and when I pull some out, I still squeeze it between my fingers as I apply it to break up the clumps up a little more.

This is a no-brainer.  Try it.  You’ll like it!

 

 

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