I can never believe how much they charge for this sauce in bottles at the store. It’s incredibly cheap and easy to make at home.
In testing recipes for this month of Thai food, we’ve gone through many batches of this amazing sauce. And every time a jar of it was sitting on the kitchen counter, inevitably someone walked into the room and told me how much they love it. As in,
“Jess, I could drink that stuff.”
And I’m right there too.
This dipping sauce is the definition of yum. It’s sweet and tart with bright flecks of chilis and garlic.
To those who don’t love Spicy Food
If you don’t love spice, this totally authentic Thai sauce is your new best friend.
The batch you see photographed here was not even the tiniest bit spicy. I carefully sliced all the veins out of the jalapeños and took out all but a few seeds. Once the sauce is simmered with sugar, any spice has disappeared. I’d feed this sauce to anyone, including kids, without hesitation.
If you are one of many people out there who don’t love spicy food, we’ve got you covered all month long. While some Thai recipes are inherently spicy, we’re going to give you tips and tricks all month so you can adapt many of our favorite recipes to fit any spice preference.
And if you like a little heat, leave some of those seeds and veins in the mix. You’ll still get the sweet, tart flavors, with a bit of heat at the end.
How To Use It
Oh my, the list of ways you can use this sauce is endless. In Thailand, we love the classic combination of sticky rice and grilled pork or chicken on skewers (satay). Roll the rice in balls, dip it in the sauce. Now that is a meal.
But we’ve got lots of other ideas for you. Serve the dipping sauce with:
Fresh Summer Rolls (show here dipped in Hoisin Peanut Sauce which is also amazing)
Baked Crab Rangoon (a great recipe for Chinese New Year – coming up next week!)
Crispy Scallion Pancakes (also good for Chinese New Year)
Baked Spring Rolls (one of the most popular recipes on this site)
We’d love for you to join us in this Thai month! Make or eat Thai food and share it on social media with #thaifoodmonth and #inquiringchef so we can find you! And check out all our other Thai Recipes here.
- 5 Red Jalapeno Peppers (see note about spice)
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Rice Vinegar
- ¾ cup Water
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Hot Water
- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
- Slice peppers in half. Remove seeds and veins to your liking (see note below).
- In the bowl of a food processor or blender combine peppers, garlic, sugar, vinegar, water and salt. Blend until only very small flecks of the peppers remain.
- Transfer to a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. (Make sure you stir the sauce frequently as it cooks - it's prone to bubble over.)
- To Thicken: Whisk together 2 Tbsp hot water and 2 Tbsp Cornstarch and add it to the sauce. Simmer for a couple minutes longer, until the sauce is thickened to your liking. (You can also skip the addition of the cornstarch and just simmer the sauce down until it reduces by about half which takes 15 to 20 minutes. I think the flavor is more "clean" this way, but it yields a more watery sauce. The cornstarch addition is definitely the fastest and easiest way to go.)
Feel free to halve this recipe or double (or triple!) it. It keeps for 3-4 weeks in the fridge, but never lasts that long at our house.
And with that, these two ladies are off to take a bath. And maybe pull down a curtain or two on the way…
Can I use fresh Thai chili peppers instead of the jalapeño peppers? If I do, how many Thai peppers should I use?
Hi Norma – yes yes! You can certainly use Thai chili peppers. In Thailand we always made this sauce with fresh Thai chili peppers. The number you use will very much depend on your level of spice preference, and they do tend to be quite a bit spicier than red jalapeños. However, if you’re okay with a bit of heat, I’d start with the same number of chili peppers as listed in the recipe (no matter what type you’re using), but remove the seeds and veins. Let us know how it turns out!
Thank you. I can easily find the Thai chili peppers, bird’s eye chilis in Asian markets here in Maryland. I usually buy quite a few and freeze them. Works well with any kind of chili pepper too.
That’s great Norma – we have to really look to find birds eye chilis here in Kansas City. Just a word of caution that, as you probably know, those can be super spicy – so do be cautious on how many you use in this sauce! Enjoy!
Hi. Try ordering Thai fresh produce and other things from import food.com. They seem to have everything, including great Thai recipes.
Thanks for the tip, Norma – I’ll check it out!
Followed the recipe and it doesn’t seem red. Seems more clear or opaque with dots if Thai chilies. Did we miss something ?
James – I’m sure you didn’t miss anything. Peppers are all a little different and some will release a bit more red hue into the sauce than others. I’ve definitely made batches of this sauce that came out with less of a red tint, though usually red jalapeños do turn the sauce that nice red. The red color is pleasant but it shouldn’t affect the taste. Hope that helps!
thanks for this recipe! your babies are adorable!
Thanks Elle – you’re so sweet to say so!
So easy! At the moment we have two big chilis but they’re popping up every day. I’ll definitely be making this soon!
This recipe is so easy and inexpensive to make! The hardest part was finding RED (ripe) Jalapenos. I found them at the farmers market. Suggestion: use LESS sugar – a whole cup is too much. You might also consider wearing disposable gloves like I do.
Thanks so much for your note Joan. It is a little tricky to find red jalapeños, but I’m jealous that you were able to find them at your farmer’s market! GREAT tip to use disposable gloves. Some of those peppers can be super spicy.
Can this be used with a sugar substitute? I haven’t made it yet.