This delicious dipping sauce is surprisingly easy to concoct, yet is complex in flavour. It will add a lively, spicy Thai zing to grilled meats such as beef or chicken, or to roasts such as pork. Whilst it can be mixed and used immediately, allowing the sauce to stand in the refrigerator for a day or so will only heighten the symphony of flavours.The secret here is to avoid powdered chili and to use only coarse dried chili flakes, where the seeds remain clearly intact. Or better still, use whole, dried, Thai bird eye chillies – smoking them briefly in a dry hot pan, before grinding them in a pestle and mortar.
Ingredients:
1 tbs hot chili flakes
1 tbs chopped coriander (stems and leaves)
1 tbs chopped green onions
A few rings of thinly sliced red shallots
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce (“Nam Pla”)
5 tbs freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbs of raw rice, ground & toasted (optional)
Directions:
Toast the rice grains in a dry frying pan until golden. Grind to resemble coarsely ground black pepper.
Mix all the ingredients in a serving dish. Taste, and add a little cold water if desired. That’s all there is to it!
