Maybe you're a fan of Huy Fong "Rooster" Sriracha (which I never really understood the hype around), and are now being bitten by the 2024 shortage. Or maybe you're just looking to expand your horizons and try something new and different.

There are five different varieties of Sriracha sauce in our refrigerator, none of them Huy Fong, and all of them tastier. They say you can't tell a book by its cover, and yet Tan noticed (and I expanded on) hints you can tell by examining the packaging that offer pre-purchase insights as to whether or not this hot sauce is the Real Deal.

How many of these can you find next time you go to an Asian (or Latino, or whatever) market in search of your next tasty discovery? The more you find the better your chances are!

• Manufacturer mailing address outside the USA
• Glass bottle
• Cheap metal or plastic cap (the less structurally sound the better)
• Big bottle and inexpensive (either on a per-ml basis, a per bottle basis, or both)
• Label is either "graphic design is my passion" level cringe or the picture of some figure central to the manufacturer's origin story
• Does not use jalapeños (particularly TAM2, looking at you rooster...)

Bonus section:

• English-Second (or -Third) label
• Ingredients list in English is an overpaste (potentially including importer info)
• Metric-dimensioned bottle (e.g. "150ml / 5 oz" or "8.8 oz / 250g"). Double bonus for metric-first labeling.

Note that these are not exhaustive, nor are they hard and fast rules. Valentina, for instance, ticks fewer boxes than you would think. That may just be an indication that matching even one datapoint is sufficient to warrant further investigation. Note too that Commonwealth influence (for instance, "Delish" brand Bajan Pepper Sauce) increases the likelihood of Imperial-first bottle dimensioning and English-first labeling.

These criteria are hypothesized to potentially apply to soy sauce and fish sauce. Independent correspondents are invited to advise us of their research results including datapoints in the form of additional signs and clues, and extension to other foodstuffs.