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This is not a fairytale, albeit the success of Huy Fong Foods, Inc. reads like an American dream come true. Huy Fong Foods is the brainchild of David Tran, a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant who named his company after the boat that took him on his escape from Vietnam. Headquartered in Rosemead, California, the company produces a handful of hot chili sauces that are based on Southeast Asian flavors.

Two of the sauces have become synonymous with Vietnamese food: the smooth Sriracha hot chili sauce (Tuong Ot Sriracha) in the squirt bottle that you see on the tables at Vietnamese pho restaurants, and the coarse chili garlic sauce (Tuong Ot Toi Viet-Nam) in the jar, which is mostly used in home kitchens. While I keep both sauces on hand, I find myself reaching for the chili garlic sauce more often because it's texturally interesting, and more complex in flavor than the heat-intensive Sriracha. Try both of these and choose for yourself. They're available at Chinese and Vietnamese markets, as well as on the shelves of some mainstream markets.

Poor imitations abound and the multi-lingual packaging makes it hard to decipher what is what. So look for that proud rooster logo and the Kelly green plastic tops-the external trademarks of Huy Fong Foods' chili sauces. Inside, you'll be rewarded with kickin' condiments that are perfectly balanced to meet your hot, tart and garlicky needs. Use these sauces as you would any other hot sauce-as the basis for dipping sauces, added to marinades or cooked food for zip, or even mixed into mayonnaise to liven up a sandwich. The possibilities are endless.

For more information:

Huy Fong Foods, Inc. website: www.huyfong.com

Kuh, Patrick. "Fire in the Bowl" in Los Angeles Magazine, April 2001, p. 72.
This is a great article on the Tran family and their chili sauce empire.