Chemistry Reveals Why Sriracha Is Just So Good

BI Answers: Why does Sriracha sauce taste so good?

It adds kick to scrambled eggs, looks pretty on pasta, and even tastes good on pizza. Rumors that its southern California factory was closing spurned frightened fans to storm grocery stores and stockpile it by the box. An outside company even came out with keychain-size bottles of the stuff so devotees could squirt it on their favorite foods on the go.

But what explains our near-universal infatuation with Sriracha? As the American Chemical Society points out a recent video, it's all about the chemistry.

Sriracha's taste comes from five main ingredients: ground up red chile peppers, vinegar, garlic powder, salt, and sugar. It's so simple you can even make it at home.

The Chemistry of Sriracha/ACS

Their sweet burn is what makes us all swoon quite literally for the sauce.

The peppers used in Sriracha contain two molecules in the capsaicin family that trigger the production of a special protein in our mouths. That protein, called TRPV1, is designed to respond to hotter-than-boiling temperatures by triggering the release of pain-killing molecules called endorphins the same feel-good chemicals that get released when we exercise, eat chocolate, or have sex.

The Chemistry of Sriracha/ACS

But how spicy is Sriracha? And why does it heat up our mouths but not make our eyes water like wasabi or hot mustard?

According to the scoville scale, which ranks spicy foods based on how much they would need to be diluted by a solution of water and sugar to make their heat undetectable, Sriracha is somewhere in the mild-to-medium range. With a scoville ranking of 1,000 to 2,500 (depending on the patch of peppers your bottle came from), Sriracha ranks slightly more timid than Tabasco, which has a ranking of 2,500 to 5,000 scoville.

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Chemistry Reveals Why Sriracha Is Just So Good