“Red jalapeno, sugar, water, salt acetic acid, garlic, natural flavor, xanthan gum, sodium metabisulfite, and/or sodium bisulfite (sulfiting agent / preservative), potassium sorbate (preservative).”
I’ve had sriracha in the past and it’s disgustingly sweet. Apparently it’s 17% sugar!
Sure, you can skip sugar entirely if you want to. But then you're getting a different flavor entirely. Southeast Asian stuff is often sweet and spicy and gets that flavor through sugar. No way around it, unless you're using artificial sweeteners.
And I agree. I like many varieties of hot sauce, but sriracha is just too sweet for me.
It's the same reason I am picky about Thai restaurants. So many of them lean hard on the sugar. Not to my taste! I like a more balanced flavor.
I like the taste of peppers but most hot sauces taste more like vinegar or capsaicin than actual peppers. I think I'm sensitive to vinegar, and my spice tolerance is not always high.
I find Chili crisp to get me what I want.