Sweet Thai Chili Ginger Sauce Vg, V
This delicious spicy, savory sweet Thai chili ginger sauce offers you so much versatility when creating your recipes. This sauce can act as that je ne sais quoi that takes your culinary experience to the next level. It can be used as a dipping sauce for spring rolls, vegetables, tofu, chicken, meat, seafood, fish, french fries etc. It can be used as a base ingredient for other sauces and a dressing for salad, noodles, and rice. It can be used as a condiment or as a glaze or marinade. The possibilities are endless.
Servings 16 Servings
Calories 60kcal
Equipment
- 16oz sterilized jar with tight fitting lid
- Immersion blender, food processer or blender
- Medium heavy bottomed pot with lid
Ingredients
- 1 cup medium/mild red spur chilies chopped
- 1-2 hot red Thai chilies chopped or to taste
- 8 cloves garlic rough chopped
- 1-2 tsp finely minced ginger
- 1 cup sugar granulated
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1-2 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1 Tbsp tapioca starch dissolved in 3 Tbsp water or use cornstarch or thickening agent of your choice. Note: AP flour will NOT work for this recipe
Instructions
- Using the immersion blender, process the chili peppers, garlic, ginger, and water until it looks mushy, but not pureed.
- Transfer the blended chili mixture into a heavy bottomed pot.
- Add sugar, vinegar and salt and stir well to mix.
- Over medium low heat bring the mixture to a simmer stirring constantly, until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Cover with the lid and simmer for 5-7 minutes. This allows all the flavors to mix, mingle and marry.
- Keep a pastry brush along with 1 tbsp of water handy. If the side of the pot starts to turn brown because of the sugar, brush gently with a little water to prevent it from burning. Burnt bits on the side of the pot will make your sauce bitter. Try to avoid that.
- At the end of the simmering time, increase the temperature slightly. Add the prepared tapioca slurry and stir constantly until it comes to a boil.
- Once the sauce has reached a boil and has begun to thicken, this means the tapioca starch is fully cooked. Remove the sauce from the heat and check for seasoning. Overcooking the tapioca starch will cause it to lose its thickening ability.
- Transfer sauce into a sterile jar, cover with a tight-fitting lid and let it cool and then refrigerate. Your Thai sweet chili ginger sauce will keep in the fridge for 6 to 8 weeks. Always use clean implements when removing your sweet chili ginger sauce from the jar. Don’t put left over sauce back into the jar. And don’t dip your fingers in the jar either. Taking these precautions will prevent your chili ginger sauce from becoming contaminated.
- It's normal for a little separation to occur. Just mix well before serving.
Notes
Chili Peppers
Spur chilies are 5 - 6 inches, (13-15 cm) long, and can be as thick as your thumb. They are very mild in flavor.
Where the spicy heat comes from in this recipe is the Thai red chili peppers. They are 1.5 – 3 inches long and skinny.
Mild Chili Options
Not everyone enjoys the heat from chili peppers. Below are some options to create sweet chili or red capsicum sauce with low or no heat.
For a mild sweet chili ginger sauce. Use the sweet chili peppers by themselves without the Thai chili pepper. For people who are chili sensitive and don’t enjoy the heat, spiciness, and pungency of hot chili peppers, use red capsicums only. Or for a very mild chili flavor use 1 or 1/2 of a sweet red chili pepper. As this is your journey you get to choose your own adventure. Thickening Agents You can substitute tapioca with arrowroot, cornstarch, or potato starch (not to be confused with potato flour). Tapioca starch produces the best clarity and is my preference for this recipe and making sauces like this. But all the above will thicken your sweet chili ginger sauce. All thickening agents get a little thicker when they are room temperature or cold. All Purpose or plain flour will NOT work for this recipe. Overcooking Thickening Agents Overcooking your thickening agent, whichever one you choose to use, can cause your sauce to revert and make it runny again. If this happens, make another tapioca slurry. Add to the sauce and cook until it is thickened. REMOVE FROM HEAT IMMEDIATELY! Other Options If you don’t like ginger, then omit it from the recipe. Your sweet chili sauce will be perfect. If you don’t like garlic, leave it out of the recipe and your sauce will be perfect.
Where the spicy heat comes from in this recipe is the Thai red chili peppers. They are 1.5 – 3 inches long and skinny.
Mild Chili Options
Not everyone enjoys the heat from chili peppers. Below are some options to create sweet chili or red capsicum sauce with low or no heat.For a mild sweet chili ginger sauce. Use the sweet chili peppers by themselves without the Thai chili pepper. For people who are chili sensitive and don’t enjoy the heat, spiciness, and pungency of hot chili peppers, use red capsicums only. Or for a very mild chili flavor use 1 or 1/2 of a sweet red chili pepper. As this is your journey you get to choose your own adventure. Thickening Agents You can substitute tapioca with arrowroot, cornstarch, or potato starch (not to be confused with potato flour). Tapioca starch produces the best clarity and is my preference for this recipe and making sauces like this. But all the above will thicken your sweet chili ginger sauce. All thickening agents get a little thicker when they are room temperature or cold. All Purpose or plain flour will NOT work for this recipe. Overcooking Thickening Agents Overcooking your thickening agent, whichever one you choose to use, can cause your sauce to revert and make it runny again. If this happens, make another tapioca slurry. Add to the sauce and cook until it is thickened. REMOVE FROM HEAT IMMEDIATELY! Other Options If you don’t like ginger, then omit it from the recipe. Your sweet chili sauce will be perfect. If you don’t like garlic, leave it out of the recipe and your sauce will be perfect.
Nutrition
Serving: 16Servings | Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 143IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg