Cilantro Garlic Chili Sauce 香菜大蒜辣椒

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.

Extended reading:

• Crunchy shallot and garlic chili oil
• Chili garlic sauce 蒜蓉辣椒醬

Sweet Red Bean and Taro Soup 紅豆芋頭甜湯

Every time I go to this local shabu shabu place, towards the end of the meal they'll always bring up sweet red bean soup for dessert. Mostly cold, but sometimes they'll serve the hot version instead during winter months.

That's the kind of sweet ending I would enjoyed. So I was like why not making it at home too? I don't have to wait to snack on this Taiwanese sweet red bean plus taro soup only when having a shabu meal. Plus it's not hard to make at all.

Sweet red bean and taro soup 紅豆芋頭甜湯 - 

Ingredients?

• 190 grams to 200 grams red beans
• 100 grams taro
• 8 to 10 cups water
• 1/2 cup crystal sugar
• Small pinch salt

How?

Rinse then soak the red beans the night before. I actually stored that in the fridge instead.

When ready to cook, drain out the water. Start a pot of fresh water instead then add in the soaked red beans. Use 8 to 10 cups of water for this recipe. If you prefer more "soup" like me, I actually used 9 cups of water here.

Switch to medium high heat and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Continue to cook till the red beans almost reach 2/3 of your preferred texture, like 70% done. If start counting the time from the beginning, mine took about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel and cube the taro, about the same or slightly larger than the red beans. After red beans are almost finished cooking, add in the taro cubes.

Continue to cook till the taro can be smashed down easily with the force of your tongue, that's about 40 more minutes for mine.

Only flavor with crystal sugar or any other types of sugar towards the end. I used 1/2 cup of crystal sugar, plus a small pinch of salt.

The sweet soup is ready when the sugar has been fully melted within. You can serve it hot or chill in the fridge till cold.

Because the red beans will continue to absorb a little bit of soup overtime, so if you know the whole pot of sweet red bean soup won't be finished at once, I would suggest to go with the "soupy" route.

Also if it's hard to buy just 100 grams of taro, don't worry and just get more taro instead. You can always peel and chunk the unused taro, store them in a Ziploc bag or a container then keep in the freezer. Frozen taro can last for quite some time.

However, do remember when ready to use the frozen taro again, do not defrost. The texture can turn a little "fluffy" once defrosted.