Cilantro

Spicy, Tart Dipping Sauce for Seafood

by:
October 27, 2013
4
1 Ratings
  • Makes about 1 cup
Author Notes

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
*A digital kitchen scale
• A charcoal grill (highly recommended), grates oiled
• 1 or 2 wood skewers (but only if you’re grilling), soaked in tepid water for 30 minutes
• A Thai granite mortar and pestle —JJ Goode

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3/4 ounce fresh green Thai (about 14) or serrano (about 3) chiles
  • 1/4 ounce cilantro roots, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 ounce peeled garlic cloves, halved lengthwise
  • 6 tablespoons lime juice (preferably from Key limes or spiked with a small squeeze of Meyer lemon juice)
  • 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
  • 5 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves), lightly packed
Directions
  1. Cook the chiles, turning them over once or twice, until both sides are completely blistered and almost completely blackened and the flesh is completely cooked, 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the chiles. Remove the chiles from the skewers and use your fingers or a small knife to peel them. You don’t have to remove every last bit of skin. In fact, you want to see bits of char in the finished sauce.
  2. Combine the cilantro roots and salt in a granite mortar and pound to a fairly smooth, slightly fibrous paste, about 30 seconds. Pound in the garlic until it’s fully incorporated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chiles and pound them until you have a fairly smooth paste (the seeds will still be visible), about 1 minute more. Scrape the paste into a bowl or other container, then add the lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar, and stir well.
  3. Let the sauce sit for an hour or two before you serve it. It’ll taste even better after it does. Right before you serve it, stir in the cilantro.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • JJ Goode
    JJ Goode
  • Chris
    Chris
I help chefs write cookbooks! I’ve co-authored several, including Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand (Ten Speed) with Andy Ricker, A Girl and Her Pig (Ecco) with April Bloomfield, and Truly Mexican and Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales (Wiley) with Roberto Santibanez.

4 Reviews

JJ G. January 16, 2014
Ha, I'm very easily alarmed. Thanks for catching the mistake. Hope you make this soon!
 
Chris January 16, 2014
Sorry to alarm you! Thanks very much for the info :)
 
JJ G. January 16, 2014
So sorry about that, Chris! I just fixed it. Your comment gave me a minor heart attack, but I checked and it's correct in the book, thank goodness. :)

Offhand I'd say that 3/4 ounce garlic is 6 to 8 medium cloves.
 
Chris January 16, 2014
Garlic is mentioned in the instructions, but not the ingredient list -- how much should be used? Thanks!