Interview: Randy Clemens (Veggie-Lover’s Sriracha Cookbook)

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Cookbook

INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

How do you get feedback on recipes during the R&D process? Do you have an iron clad culinary compass or do certain people taste dishes and give you notes?

I farmed quite a bit of recipes out to close friends who volunteered to test recipes. I’d set up a feedback form on Google Docs to get their reactions, and make sure that my instructions came across clearly. Sure, something can make total sense in my head, but I want to know that others can follow my recipes. Otherwise, I’ve missed the point of this whole cookbook thing! The feedback was incredibly helpful! Sometimes, it simply reinforced my belief that the recipe was perfect and ready to go, other times, I went back to the drawing board based on a suggestion or a report that the oven temperature may be too high, causing a few black spots on the roasted Brussels sprouts.

How many different varieties of Sriracha do you have in your fridge at the moment? Also, what’s your favorite bottle, and how come?

I’ve got nine, including a homemade batch with organic Serrano chiles from Suzie’s Farm in San Diego. My two go-to brands are definitely Huy Fong Foods and a Thai version called Shark Brand, but I really do love all the variety that’s available. Smaller batch producers like Sky Valley’s Organicville Sriracha and Jojo’s Sriracha always have a place in my cupboard. Sriraja Panich is another favorite, though I’m temporarily out since it’s not distributed here on the West Coast yet.

Another cool brand is Flying Goose from Thailand. They make several different versions, such as curry, extra garlic, and onion, that all sound great, but they don’t get to the States. Vegan blogger extraordinaire Quarry Girl was kind enough to send me a bottle of the Flying Goose Extra Garlic Sriracha from the UK, and it was right up my alley! Yum!

What would your life be like without Sriracha?

Like a day without sunshine.

How much more does Rooster Sauce have to give? Can you see writing a third Sriracha cookbook? If so, any ideas?

I think there are still plenty of people just beginning to see the light of Sriracha. It’s a great condiment to put on food, for sure, but it’s also a great ingredient to put in food. That’s what my books have set out to celebrate, and the response has been overwhelming. I couldn’t be happier.

And I do have one more Sriracha book idea that I think I can put together, but I’m not quite ready to share it with the world quite yet. When it’s ready though, quite a bit down the road, I’m pretty sure everyone will really dig the concept and my vision for it. I’d really want to push the digital publishing boundary and play with interactivity (without being annoying) and keeping the cost for the eBook as close to free as possible. No ads though or annoying hoops to leap through. Just an inexpensive tool for people to enjoy and share.

Mr. Clemens was kind enough to share his RECIPE FOR JACKFRUIT PULLED PORK

Click Here to Purchase The Veggie-Lover’s Sriracha Cookbook

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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