You may think of the famous Sriracha as a hot sauce (and it’s definitely used as one), but technically it’s a chili sauce by name on its own label (“Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce”.) It’s not like Tabasco or other dasher-ready hot sauces. It’s thicker, with hints of sugar and garlic. This is a sauce that can fit many chili sauce use cases in recipes.

This sauce is hot and sweet, making it a very versatile dipping sauce. You can serve it with finger foods or douse your crispy noodles in it. While it’s mainly used as a dipping sauce, I also use it in stir-fries to add that perfect sweet, salty, spicy flavour.

It's why when I use it to substitute hot paprika in my recipes, I combine it with chili flakes or powder. I usually add one-eight to one-fourth teaspoon of chili to a tablespoon of guajillo chili powder.

Red chilies are part of the capsicum family. However, they are different from bell peppers, being thinner and narrower and come in a variety of sizes, length, breadth and colors. When they grow they may be green, red or yellow. Usually, when dried or aged, many of the green varieties turn red, though yellow pepper is different.