WELCOME!
Jason from Atlanta wrote late last week asking about a Vietnamese-Style Sate Chile Sauce that he’d sampled at two Vietnamese restaurants in Atlanta. Restaurant cooking is hard to duplicate unless I’ve eaten it myself, so I pointed Jason to a couple recipes in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, which he had on hand, so that he may understand what the restaurant chef may have done to craft the sauce. The simple Mellow Chile Garlic Mix (p. 315) is just crushed red chile flakes, garlic and oil. It’s an old-fashioned homey condiment that pre-dated any kind of Sriracha or chile-garlic sauces that are ubiquitous these days. Jason’s sauce had lots of lemongrass and shallot, so I pointed him to the finishing mix that’s added to complete spicy bowls of Bun Bo Hue noodle soup (p. 212-214). The key in both of those recipes is that you have to slowly cook at low heat to coax all the oils and flavors from the ingredients. If you’ve prepared cooked sambals, you’ll notice the similarity in cooking methods.
With all of that in mind, Jason returned to one of the restaurants and chatted with the chef for 20 minutes to get the recipe. The chef told Jason that this is a Vietnamese-Style Sate Chile Sauce. Jason reports that the chef explained that his heady mixture is a combination of a 1:1:3 ratio of garlic, shallots and lemongrass that’s fried in oil. The chef then adds fresh chiles, crushed dry chiles and Sriracha sauce before adding some salt, fish sauce, MSG, and a touch of sugar.
Jason went home and came up with his own recipe. He sent it to me along with the photo that’s on this post. Since I was out of my regular Mellow Chile Garlic Mix, I made a batch of Jason’s. YOWZA — it is very spicy — like leaving a light ring of fire around your lips and on your tongue. The burn disappeared after a few minutes. If you’re not a heat seaker, omit or cut down on the Sriracha at the end. To mitigate the heat, I added extra sugar (about 1 1/2 teaspoons extra). Letting the mixture sit overnight mellows and blends the flavors nicely.
What will I use my 2 cups for? As a table top condiment to add extra zip to foods, a seasoning for a stir-fry (it’ll be tofu tonight), or a final flourish for a hot, spicy soup, like a Thai-style seafood soup made with lots of kaffir (makrut) lime leaf. It’s nice slapped onto some fried rice too. Have paper tissues nearby, for this is definitely a brow-wiper and nose-runner kind of condiment. Jason said that he was practically addicted to it after he made his first batch and I totally agree. There’s a wonderful complexity, and I didn’t use the MSG either. Bravo and cam on (thank you), Jason!
Note that for accuracy, Jason used weight measurements in metric, which is easier to gauge than ounces. There are 28 grams in 1 ounce. If you don’t have a scale, it is one of the most useful tools in the kitchen! Here is Jason’s recipe, which includes some minor edits on my part:
Makes about 2 cups
25 g garlic (3 large cloves), coarsely chopped
30 g shallots (1 large shallot), coarsely chopped
80 g lemon grass (4 medium stalks), coarsely chopped
About 1 cup peanut oil
8 g fresh Thai bird chilis, minced
30 g crushed red thai chilis, the dry red ones about 3-4" long
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp. MSG (optional)
3 to 4 Tablespoons Sriracha chili sauce (optional, use for brighter color and extra heat)
1) Food process the garlic, shallots and lemon grass separately. (An electric mini-chopper works very well for this task.) Get the garlic
and shallots to a fine mince, and the lemon grass well processed, but not
to powder.
2) Put 14 tablespoons (that’s 1 cup less 2 tablespoons) oil in a small saucepan and add garlic. Heat over medium low and after the mixture starts bubbling and making sizzling sounds, lower the heat to the low. Let fry on low, low heat for 5
minutes.
3) Add the shallot and keep frying on low heat for 10 minutes more. It
should gently sizzle without browning.
4) Add the lemongrass and let fry on low for another 10-15 minutes, until the lemongrass is fragrant, toasty, and has sunken into the oil.
5) Add the minced fresh chiles and fry for 5 minutes to release their oil and turn the mixture pale orange.
6) Add the crushed red pepper and fry for 5-10 minutes, until there’s a nutty, spicy smelling heat.
7) Stir in the Sriracha to achieve the desired color — orange red. About 3 to 4 tablespoons should do it. Then stir in the fish sauce, sugar, salt, and MSG. Adjust the heat to lightly bubble and let cook 1 or 2 minutes longer.
8) Turn off the heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust with a little more sugar to tame the heat, fish sauce or salt for savoriness, or a bit more Sriracha for extra heat. If you add sugar, warm up the mixture and stir it to dissolve the sugar. There should be a layer of oil floating on top to cover. If not, add more oil as needed to barely
cover the top.
For a smoother texture, use a stick blender or food processor to grind the mixture finely. Allow to cool completely before transferring to a jar. Store at room temperature for daily use or in the refrigerator for infrequent use and longer keeping.
Jason
July 23, 2007 at 7:01 pmAndrea, this batch is somewhat hotter than the restaurant’s. This may be due to the thai bird chilis or too much sriracha. I also will cut down on that next time..but this stuff is so good i eat it plain on rice!
Andrea Nguyen
July 23, 2007 at 10:24 pmIndeed, it is good on plain rice. The natural sweetness of the rice blends beautifully. Good stuff…
Steamy Kitchen
July 24, 2007 at 6:10 amYUM. I’m going to have to try this. I might nix the heat altogether and go for for intense flavor of lemongrass, shallots, garlic, fish sauce. Use that to marinate chicken breasts and throw on grill….
Andrea Nguyen
July 24, 2007 at 10:57 amYeah — that sounds fabulous. A little chile heat is nice, though. You end up with a fair amount so it’s a fun ingredient to have handy to throw into food. Let us all know how your grilled chix works out!
anh
July 25, 2007 at 10:08 amOh, this is exactly what I need to take my bun bo hue up to a notch. Thanks so much for posting! =)
Andrea Nguyen
July 25, 2007 at 11:39 amAnh, ooh, yes, bun bo Hue needs that special extra sweet-heady heat to give it the exciting oomph you’re looking for!
Rosa
July 27, 2007 at 4:36 pmThat looks wonderful! I’m going to keep that recipe for future use…
I would also not use MSG.
Andrea Nguyen
July 27, 2007 at 9:48 pmI suppose the MSG could add to the addictive quality of the mixture, huh? I never think you need it if you use good ingredients. So Rosa, I’m with you!!
Ashley
August 11, 2007 at 6:23 pmHi Andrea,
There is another Vietnamese cookbook that you can add to your “Bookshelf” section. It’s called “Quick & Easy Vietnamese: Home Cooking For Everyone” (Andre Nguyen, 2003). You can search for it on http://www.amazon.com
Hope this helps.
Ashley
Andrea Nguyen
August 11, 2007 at 8:44 pmAshley,
I’ll check it out! For long list of Vietnamese cookbooks in English, peruse the list on this page of the Viet World Kitchen website:
http://vietworldkitchen.com/bookshelf/cookbooks_english.htm
Thanks,
Andrea
slenz
September 2, 2007 at 1:09 pmPutting chili sauce on rice can become an addiction. I took the above recipe to a savory chutney/condiment tweak, by substuting the chili with red jalapeno (meatier)and about 5 Habanero(great fragrance as well) for heat. The chilis were seeded to yield a good chutney texture. I left out the MSG and sriracha and at end of cooking, I added one teaspoon of vinegar which gave the whole chutney a salivating lift. The key however was the use of lemon grass, something I have never thought of before,
Janice
October 26, 2008 at 10:18 amGREAT recipe!!! We left out the sriracha and used the paste to make Sate Beef Subs (Bahn Mi) for some friends who have never had them before. They LOVED it! Thanks Jason and Andrea for sharing. My husband and I are so happy to add this sauce to our arsenal in the kitchen. I’ve passed it along for some friends and family to try.
Kimberly
February 23, 2009 at 10:54 amdo you have your own Bun Bo Hue recipe?
berlin
February 27, 2009 at 9:20 amGut!
Jason
May 19, 2009 at 7:44 pmI really dig the sa-te sauce…you can find it in asian grocery stores sometimes. It’s a spicy and super tasty sauce with a mysterious flavor. Unbelievably delicious. Huy Fong used to make a version. The kind I have now is some random knockoff vietnamese brand, in a poorly sealed plastic jar with a baby blue lid. Try it…you won’t be disappointed. (Thanks for the recipe by the way!).
Andrea Nguyen
May 20, 2009 at 10:53 amYou’re welcome, Jason!
Happy Canadian
January 18, 2010 at 12:48 pmOh my God, I just made some of this and it’s AWESOME. It tastes better than I remember the original tasting. I never will buy the commercial stuff again.
Thanks guys, this is delicious. I’m so happy to have made it!
P.S. I might add some black pepper near the end next time to further round out the flavor.
Andrea Nguyen
January 18, 2010 at 4:10 pmGlad you liked it so much. It’s killer good stuff! Nice touch with the black pepper finish. Thanks for adding your twist.
Happy Canadian (Jason G)
January 18, 2010 at 5:08 pmI should also add that I used extra oil, some coconut oil, and double the specified amount of red chilli. 🙂
Next time definitely black pepper, and I’m really tempted to add a bit of coriander, I think it would match well with the lemongrass.
Happy Canadian (Jason G)
January 18, 2010 at 5:09 pmI forgot to add, I omitted the thai chillies. I thought they would make it too shocking due to their “fast” type of heat.
Andrea Nguyen
January 22, 2010 at 1:25 pmJason G — Now that you’ve got the foundation, run with it!
Happy Canadian (Jason G)
January 26, 2010 at 10:46 pmI’ll report back 🙂
Kim Spence
April 10, 2010 at 2:21 pmThanks for posting this,
I think this is the best kept cooking secret out there
My adjustment was in efforts to reduce the heat.
1) I increased the shallots (by a factor of triple) and added them to the oil first to get them caramelized over low heat then addded the garlic
2) reduced dried chillies to 10g, and increased fresh to 10 g.
The result was a lighter colour, and reduced heat profile. Much more usable as the heat is bareable.
bee Enchenique
July 30, 2011 at 2:31 pmI made this and it was so good that I am going to make it for the second time. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe I love Ph’o but was always missing the chili that they have to go with it, now I can make it myself and enjoy the full taste of Pho’
bee Enchenique
July 30, 2011 at 2:36 pmI did change a few things and that was i added white onions a whole one and a half and and added about 10 cloves of garlic and lots of lemon grass.
It was kind of spicy but i loved it. this time i will use less chilies and see how that goes.
thank you once again
Bernard
October 23, 2011 at 8:07 pmSate is my favorite dish when I visited Asia, I first tried it in Singapore. I am happy to find this sauce recipe. I will try it soon.
Nickle
April 29, 2012 at 11:54 pmYou brought some nice points there. i did a search and found that mostly people gave u compliments.
marlon
May 1, 2012 at 5:14 amGREAT recipe!! I’m going to keep that recipe for future use.
marlon
May 2, 2012 at 4:45 amI should also add that I used extra oil, some coconut oil, and double the specified amount of red chilli.
Shonagh @ An Offal Experiment
July 2, 2012 at 11:07 pmI am making this tomorrow… it looks so delicious.
miss food fairy
May 18, 2013 at 3:18 amThank you for this! I have a heap of habenero chillis and this is perfect! I didn’t know what to do with them & now I can serve extra hot chilli sauce with my dumplings next week! Thanks again
Natalie
November 3, 2017 at 12:39 pmHi there, I would love to make this recipe, but was wondering how long you think it will last in the fridge? Do you think it would freeze well if it can be used in time?
Thank you!
Natalie
Andrea Nguyen
November 3, 2017 at 4:18 pmI’d say a month. With the oil involved, you can freeze it!
Natalie
November 4, 2017 at 6:46 amThank you so much for this quick reply! I made it last night, but didn’t have dried peppers so used all fresh (a little more than a cup chopped hot red chilis), went a little lighter on the fish sauce, used only 1 Tbsp (just personal preference), and didn’t have msg or Sriracha chili sauce so I had to leave that out, and used palm sugar for the sugar… it is AMAZING. Thank you for this great recipe we are marinading some chicken in it as I write this 🙂 I will definitely try this again with the dried chilis and Sriracha chili sauce.
Michelle
February 26, 2019 at 10:19 amJason and Andrea, this recipe was SO good and exactly what I was looking for! I tasted something similar at a local pho place and had been thinking about it ever since. Super easy, super delicious and I am super thankful that y’all worked on the recipe and posted it!
Andrea Nguyen
March 4, 2019 at 2:23 pmThis is an old post and I’m so happy the recipe continues to be a keeper! Thanks, Michelle for trying it out and taking time to write feedback.