My dad brought me a jar of chili sauce, but it wasn't just fresh red chilies inside, but also loaded with lots of chopped cilantro and garlic. It was very flavorful and matches so well with Asian noodles, and of course I quickly finished the whole jar.
Sadly the place he got the chili sauce stopped making it, and I couldn't find any replacement with the same cilantro, garlic, and red chilies combo. Besides I want the sauce to be all natural, meaning no additives or other artificial stuff used. It seemed like my search was destined to be a letdown. Good thing is that I can somewhat recreate the sauce at home. Maybe not as flavorful but I think I got like 85% of the taste. And I used organic extra virgin olive oil too, can't be healthier than that.
Cilantro garlic chili sauce 香菜大蒜辣椒 -
Ingredients (about one medium jar)?
- 2 1/2 cups loosely-packed red chilies
- 1 bundle cilantro
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce paste 醬油膏
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
How?
Clean and pat dry the red chilies. Do the same for cilantro. Also make sure to really dry them well, some people will also let the chilies sun-drying for a little while when the weather is sunny, but it's totally up to you.
Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Destem the red chilies and slice to smaller chunks. Add both to a food processor. Blend till the red chilies turned into smaller pieces, but not overly tiny.
Scoop them out and transfer to a medium sized container.
As for the cilantro, you can simply chop them with a knife or continue to use the food processor. I find it easier just to chop the cilantro without using the machine though. Set aside for later use.
Have a medium small pot ready. We are going to use extra virgin olive oil and white sesame oil for the chili sauce, the ratio is about 2:1. So I used 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil plus 3 tablespoons of white sesame oil in the end.
However, only pour in the extra virgin olive oil to the pot first and switch to medium small heat. Add in the Sichuan peppercorns when the oil is still room temperature. Sear till the aroma starts to come out but not burning the peppercorns. Scoop out the peppercorns before they turn to even darker color.
Now it's time to pour in the white sesame oil, also add in the chopped red chilies and garlic. Continue to use medium small heat to sear these ingredients for few minutes.
Then add in the chopped cilantro, give it a few mixes and cook for one more minute.
Season with 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce paste, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Mix and cook for couple more minutes, or till the sugar has been all melted and blended in.
Turn-off the heat and just leave the pot there. Wait till the sauce completely cooled down then transfer to a storing jar or sanitized container.
Depending on where you live, but I do prefer to store the homemade chili sauce in the fridge instead. I didn't use too much oil so even after weeks, the consistency is still good, I mean no sticky and thick layer of oil forming on top.
My homemade cilantro garlic chili sauce is not as garlicky as the one my dad brought me. I figured it might be better to tone down the garlic a bit, mostly because I tend to have yoga classes throughout the week and having a bit of garlic breath might not be a good idea.
But you are more than welcomed to spike up that garlicky aroma. Even double the amount of garlic used in this recipe shouldn't be an issue. As for me, I'm quite happy with the result, and already used it with noodles and as an extra spicy kick for the dumpling dipping sauce.
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