Vietnamese Chili Sauce

1. 1

   Mince chilies and garlic finely and place in a mortar.

2. 2

   Mash with the heel of a cleaver or pestle. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves.

3. 3

   Add fish sauce, vinegar and lemon juice, stirring between each addition.

4. 4

   Variations of this are found in Cambodia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.

5. 5

   You can fiddle with it endlessly.

6. 6

   This is a good starting point. The proportions shown here produce what I consider a mildly warm dip.

7. 7

   I generally use two to six times as many chilies, depending on their strength and how hot I want it.

8. 8

   Variations: use green serrano chilies instead of dried red ones, lime juice instead of the lemon juice or palm sugar instead of granulated.

9. 9

   If you make it in a food processor, don't over process. It should have small chunks of each ingredient rather than being a homogeneous liquid.

10. 10

    The taste is sour and hot, very puckery. It's great with poached or steamed chicken, duck or game hens. Much better with basically bland dishes rather than something like curry which has it's own blend of spices.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.

No additional tips available.