Let’s talk about dehydrating Sriracha.

I am addicted to all things spicy and tasty.  That is to say, damn it I love me some good eats, especially when that food has a tasty kick-ass bite to it.  Sriracha has always and will always be one of my favorite hot sauces.

I remember tasting Sriracha for the first time: picture me, age 16.  I sit in eager patience to fill my then stoner stomach full of delicious Vietnamese food from a small restaurant by the name of Tu-Do located in my hometown of Pensacola, FL.  I asked for something spicy, and the waiter handed me a curious clear bottle with a green cap. I burst into laughter when my friend called it “cock sauce.” Back then I could only handle a few drops at a time, but goddamn it I felt as if those drops were the holy grail. 

Imagine my disappointment while packing my kitchen for my upcoming AT thru-hike when I realized that my high-volume consumption of Sriracha use would have to be downsized to a small, carry-able package.  I would have to revert back to using one or two drops of red gold at a time, if any.

But then something absolutely wonderful happened.  My partner, under the influence of raw and god-like inspiration, decided to see what would happen if he dehydrated the red gold, and thus the world became a better place.  That’s right.  You can now rest assured that your thru-hike or backpacking adventure cooking can, in fact, be full of all of the Sriracha without all of the weight.

I’ve seen recipes for Sriracha Powder and a good friend once made me Sriracha Salt– both are great in their own ways.  However, this recipe yields Sriracha Leather. Being easier to handle and pack, yet still maintaining most of its flavor, just tear a piece off or throw the whole thing into your Jetboil to bring a delicious new level to your favorite, plain old backpacking foods.

How To Dehydrate Your Sriracha Addiction

Yields: 16 Sriracha Leather Disks. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Dehydrating Time: about 15 hours

Ingredients                           

  

• Dehydrator

• Sriracha. Two largle bottles will do for this recipe.

• Aluminum Foil or Teflon dehydrator sheets if you have them

• Cooking Spray

• Time

• Measuring  Cup (1/3 cup size is best)

Method

   

• Cut a piece of aluminum foil to the size of your racks and smooth out any wrinkles by pressing it onto a flat surface like the kitchen counter. This will make it easier to peel the foil from the Sriracha after dehydrating it. 

• Layer aluminum foil onto dehydrator racks.  Make sure you don’t skip this step.  I tried to do this with parchment paper, and the result was parchment embedded Sriracha.

• Spray a thin layer of cooking spray, or lightly oil your foil-lined racks.

• Pour 1/3 cup full of Sriracha onto your racks.  If you’re using a standard sized dehydrator, you should be able to fit four disk shaped dollops onto each sheet.  Insert trays into your dehydrator.

• Turn your dehydrator on to 140° Fahrenheit, then set your timer for fourteen hours. Wait, and then check to see if the Sriracha is leathery. You may need a few more hours depending on your dehydrator as well as the humidity in your house.

• Once you have some nice and leathery patties, take the aluminum foil sheets off of the racks and carefully peel the disks off. This is where the Teflon sheets would be nice to have, because usually the tin foil tears and you end up having to pick little pieces of aluminum off the Sriracha disks. Peel slowly, and please do try to be patient.

• Put the disks back on the racks (without the foil) and stick them back in the dehydrator for one more hour. 

Reap the flavor of your labor

  

• Viola!  Your Sriracha Leathers are done once they are firm and flexible.  They should peal easy off of the racks.

• Try some out.  Like any dehydrated food, the flavor isn’t going to be  100% exactly like the fresh stuff. So, go try using it in some mac ‘n cheese.  It’ll melt right into your favorite meal. Find out how much you’ll be wanting/needing to bring with you on your next adventure. This is a long process, I know, but any Sriracha appreciator will be happy with the results.

• Remember back to a time when you didn’t know about dehydrating Sriracha- all those camping trips that could have tasted so much better, and vow to never let that happen again.

• Store in zip lock bags.