Viet World Kitchen

Thai Sweet Chile Sauce Recipe

We’ve had a despicably cold summer in the Bay Area, the coldest since 1958! Dreary overcast skies greet us every morning. If we’re lucky, we get a few hours of sun and then it’s cool again.

Yesterday, my husband reminded me of the sweltering heat wave last August. My friend, novelist Monique Truong, just wrote to me about Brooklyn’s humidity.

I ought to be relieved to not experience global warming, huh? But as crazy as it sounds, the physical discomfort of sweating during the dog days of summer seems dreamy right now.

I figured that since the sun can’t burn through the clouds that I could at least enjoy flavors that evoke hot weather. That’s the genesis of this Thai sweet chile sauce.

Ever since I opened a bottle of the commercially-made stuff, I’ve wanted to make my own. The bottled version is terribly gloppy and cloying, without much personality. It didn’t seem like rocket science to prepare so I tinkered around in my kitchen to come up with this sweet chile sauce recipe.

Sriracha Chile Sauce Recipe (Tuong Ot Sriracha)

Once I’d tasted a number of Sriracha chile sauces from Thailand, the U.S., and Vietnam, I wondered if I could make my own. Why make it yourself when Sriracha costs less than $3 a bottle? I wanted to understand how the flavor of Sriracha came together. Additionally, I wondered if I could use readily available ingredients to make an excellent homemade version of the hot sauce? Huy Fong’s Rooster brand of Sriracha employs American ingredients so why can’t I?

My aim was to come close to replicating the nuanced and well-balanced Thai Shark brand of Sriracha, which my friends and I all gravitated toward liking during the Sriracha taste off. The ingredients listed on the Shark bottle were pretty straightforward: chiles, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. (No preservatives please!) Most Thais buy Sriracha so there aren’t many published recipes, especially in English. However, I remembered tasting Chef Robert Danhi’s version of Sriracha that he made from scratch. I looked in his densely packed cookbook, Southeast Asian Flavors, and found it on page 133. Robert’s Sriracha recipe came in two versions: quick (I call it fresh here) and fermented. He’d researched it from going to the actual town of Sri Racha in Thailand and analyzing both Thai and American sauces. I tried both of Robert’s versions.

Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce Recipe (Tuong Ot Toi)

Weeks ago we started a conversation about how to make Vietnamese chili garlic sauce without preservatives. Josh Levine began the whole thing by asking me if Huy Fong made a preservative-free version of their ubiquitous Rooster-brand sauces. Lili and Chuck ended up sharing their family recipes.

I mostly eat raw, unadulterated sliced chiles, so while I have those prepared condiments around, I use them only once in a while for certain applications, like when I mix up a little dip for corn and coconut fritters. Many people think the Rooster sauces are great but I find them a tad vinegary, too hot, and often overpowering. But something happened recently that changed my mind.

Two weeks ago I dined at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose, CA, and instead of chili garlic sauce on the table, there was a small container of fresh pureed chiles. I was delighted at the prospect of having actual fresh zip for my food since most times when I ask for fresh ot hiem (hot Southeast Asian type chiles), the response is: "Sorry, all we have are green jalapenos." Those don't do much for me and yep, I'm sorry too.

Vietnamese-Style Sate Chile Sauce Recipe

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.