How Sriracha Is Made (23 gifs)

Just one company, Underwood Ranches in Camarillo, Cali., grows the chiles used to make Sriracha. And Huy Fong Foods only buys from them. Below, workers dump hand-picked chiles into crates.

Equipment does some of the work though. This year, the farm will grow 48,000 tons of peppers, according to owner Craig Underwood

That would take up a field about the size of lower Manhattan, south of Houston Street

After sorting, a conveyer belt hoists the peppers onto trucks. The farm sends about 30 semis to Huy Fong Foods daily

Vietnamese refugee David Tran founded Huy Fong Foods, located in Rosemead, Cali

Once the chiles leave the trucks, processing starts

They look like red quicksand funneling into factory machines

First, a windmill-like device washes the chiles, removing any dirt or chemicals

Then they enter a grinder

Kind of looks like ground beef, doesn’t it?

After that, industrial, blue barrels store the chile-mash

Later, the mixture gets a dose of garlic and sugar. Below, the sauce cooks while churning

Then, packaging begins. The old factory (not shown) could produce about 70,000 bottles daily. Huy Fong Foods’ new facility, howe

Factory machines also take care of the the final touch, those signature green caps

Aside from the 17- and 28-ounce bottles, the company plans to sell 9-ounce and gallon-sized containers too, according to Tran

Surprisingly, the company doesn’t advertise for any product. Fans, however, often pick up the slack. This dancing chicken comes

Still, Huy Fong Foods has no trouble selling the special sauce. "The past 30 years, the economics sometimes up and down. For me, I feel nothing. Every day, every month, the volume increase," Tran said.