The Best Sweet Chili Sauce EVAH!
(For an updated version - with better pictures! - please check this post.)
So you're probably going: why on EARTH would I want to slave over my own chilisauce, when there are so many nice brands out there, that are even cheap? Well, I for one do, simply because this is the best one I've ever had. The taste may not be as the commercial kind, here you can taste every single ingredient - maybe I'm not able to taste the galangal from the ginger, but I know it's there! And there's just something weirdly satisfying about reading a recipe that says "2 tablespoons of chilisauce", then taking that little, dark, sweet-spicy smelling, sticky jar of your own homemade sauce out of the fridge, instead of a large bottle. I'm weird like that, but I do like that feeling...
Sweet Chili Sauce
Makes three small jars (250 ml each)
You need:
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 large red chilies, stems removed
3 thumbs of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 thumb of galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
8 lime leaves
3 lemon-grass stems; remove the two outside leaves, discard the top third of the stem and finely slice the remainder
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
Ginger vs. galangal - yes, there is a difference, but if you can't get galangal, just use ginger.
Put in a food processor and purée to a coarse paste.
Then put
1½ cups caster sugar
together with 4 tablespoons water in a saucepn, place on a moderate heat, stirring well intil the sugar dissolves. When it has, remove the spoon and turn up the heat to full. Boil for 5-8 minutes, do not stir, but of course, don't let the caramel burn either. (I never actually need to turn the heat to full - it seems to boil away nicely on a medium heat with me...)
Stir in the paste, bring the sauce back to the boil and add:
100 ml cider vinegar
50 ml Asian fish sauce
50 ml tamari
Return to the boil and simmer for 1 minute. Pour in jars, and leave to cool before eating.
The recipe is not actually made to be a keeper, but I've had mine around in jars for about a year or so, no problemos at all - I don't really do anything special to keep them, other than sterilizing the jars (ok, basically pouring boiling water over them before I fill them!) and keep them in the fridge. Also, if you want it to be HOT you could probably leave some of the chili seeds in - this really isn't hot at all, but I just am not that big on hot-hot stuff...
I stole the recipe from Peter Gordon's: The Sugar Club Cookbook, a, in my opinion, really nice book. Very pacific rim, and okay, I am a bit biased: I used to work at The Sugar Club's sister restaurant, Bali Sugar -when The Sugar Club moved to Soho, the owners opened yet another restaurant, Bali Sugar, at the original place in Notting Hill, so all the pictures in this book is from the restaurant I used to work at. Ah, memories!
In the cookbook, the chilisauce is served with grilled scallops, watercress and creme fraiche - that's a great combo, and a signature Peter Gordon dish! I'd also use the chilisauce with homemeade fries aka potato wedges - small saucer with creme fraiche, small saucer with chilisauce, and then you dip your potato wedge into each one alternately. I had this in Australia and though I at first thought the combination sorta weird, it really worked!
So you're probably going: why on EARTH would I want to slave over my own chilisauce, when there are so many nice brands out there, that are even cheap? Well, I for one do, simply because this is the best one I've ever had. The taste may not be as the commercial kind, here you can taste every single ingredient - maybe I'm not able to taste the galangal from the ginger, but I know it's there! And there's just something weirdly satisfying about reading a recipe that says "2 tablespoons of chilisauce", then taking that little, dark, sweet-spicy smelling, sticky jar of your own homemade sauce out of the fridge, instead of a large bottle. I'm weird like that, but I do like that feeling...
Sweet Chili Sauce
Makes three small jars (250 ml each)
You need:
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 large red chilies, stems removed
3 thumbs of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 thumb of galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
8 lime leaves
3 lemon-grass stems; remove the two outside leaves, discard the top third of the stem and finely slice the remainder
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
Ginger vs. galangal - yes, there is a difference, but if you can't get galangal, just use ginger.
Put in a food processor and purée to a coarse paste.
Then put
1½ cups caster sugar
together with 4 tablespoons water in a saucepn, place on a moderate heat, stirring well intil the sugar dissolves. When it has, remove the spoon and turn up the heat to full. Boil for 5-8 minutes, do not stir, but of course, don't let the caramel burn either. (I never actually need to turn the heat to full - it seems to boil away nicely on a medium heat with me...)
Stir in the paste, bring the sauce back to the boil and add:
100 ml cider vinegar
50 ml Asian fish sauce
50 ml tamari
Return to the boil and simmer for 1 minute. Pour in jars, and leave to cool before eating.
The recipe is not actually made to be a keeper, but I've had mine around in jars for about a year or so, no problemos at all - I don't really do anything special to keep them, other than sterilizing the jars (ok, basically pouring boiling water over them before I fill them!) and keep them in the fridge. Also, if you want it to be HOT you could probably leave some of the chili seeds in - this really isn't hot at all, but I just am not that big on hot-hot stuff...
I stole the recipe from Peter Gordon's: The Sugar Club Cookbook, a, in my opinion, really nice book. Very pacific rim, and okay, I am a bit biased: I used to work at The Sugar Club's sister restaurant, Bali Sugar -when The Sugar Club moved to Soho, the owners opened yet another restaurant, Bali Sugar, at the original place in Notting Hill, so all the pictures in this book is from the restaurant I used to work at. Ah, memories!
In the cookbook, the chilisauce is served with grilled scallops, watercress and creme fraiche - that's a great combo, and a signature Peter Gordon dish! I'd also use the chilisauce with homemeade fries aka potato wedges - small saucer with creme fraiche, small saucer with chilisauce, and then you dip your potato wedge into each one alternately. I had this in Australia and though I at first thought the combination sorta weird, it really worked!
Comments
Dry crackers with cream cheese and sweet chili sauce are another regular party-food stand-by here. Have a look:
http://www.kraft.com.au/philadelphia/index.cfm?fuseaction=products.main
And there's something incredibly satisfying about making your own sauces and dips and so on. I applaud, and promptly grab the recipe to make for my sweetie.
thanks!
Moira
"Condiment Queen of Copenhagen" - I like the sound of that!;-)
Ih yes - can't wait to try this out.
Thanks!!
Can I just add that it must be the sugar and the vinegar that make it such a great keeper - you really can keep it for almost EVAH !!!!
Cheers
Ciao
Janie (chef) Sydney Australia
It still turned out spectacular, both in taste and heat!.
Thanks for putting the recipe up, it puts those store-bought sweet chilli sauces to shame.
And yes I found you when I googled!
I used only a couple of tablespoons of sugar and it was really good for me (although my wife said she would have liked it a bit sweeter). Hmmm... maybe the ladies like their sauce sweeter than the guys?
I also came to the recipe via Google - I am starting to sell stuff at Farmers' Markets, and I think this will be a winner! WIll look at more of your recipes, and the idea with Creme Fraiche etc sounds delicious! SUsanne
i am just wondering when you mention 4x large red chilis are those mostly sweet tasting (not capsiums)? i usually find the larger the chili pepper the less hot (as in spice) and more sweet it seems to taste to me.
i wish i could see what your version of a large hot chili pepper is.
i cook almost exclusively thai food and i use the small bird chilis regularly... i wonder how many of those i should substitute in place of the larger red chilis mentioned?
to make 3 x 250ml jars of sauce i will start with maybe 30 of the smaller red bird chilis so i will get the kick of about 10 chilis per jar and let you know my results.
And my size chilies are about 10 cm. (3 inches?) long, 1 cm. in diameter-ish. Like these. I believe they're called cayenne. Around here, they're everywhere :)
I can it in jelly jars; using a water bath method and holding the jars at a rolling boil for about 10 minutes. It keeps fine sitting on the shelf then. I get requests for it all the time from friends with whom I have shared this product.
Wonderful. Just wanted to let you know that it can be water bathed and held out of the fridge with no problem. Of course it does not usually last more than a year...OH yes, I usually make 4 to 8 times the amount listed in this recipe.
THANKS for a fun and delicious recipe!!
Otherwise, a very good recipe, thank you!
I cooked it this weekend - using red thai-chilies as that's what I had at home. I substituted 15 red thai chilies for the amount in the recipe.
And of course no fish sauce, since I'm a vegetarian.
Delicious with roasted tofu and potato wedges (should have had some sour cream as well - that would have been great)
Also, I can mine in a water bath and it keeps for more than a year on the shelf with my other canned produce, fruits, soups, sauces, etc. :) It makes the winter a little warmer and everyone a little happier. All my friends expect a little jar in their Christmas stocking. :)
I do have some difficulty finding the ingredients...there is ONE little thai store on the south side of Columbus where I can get the lime leaves, galangal and lemongrass all fresh (speaking of which it is past time for a visit there).
THANK YOU for sharing this recipe!!!!