Chillie sauce - not from the bottle

The main ingredients

I found this out by mistake. Mom was blending a small amount of some ginger, red chillies & garlic together. But as with most blenders, they need some liquid to help stir the ingredients around when blending or else u get uneven sized bits. So mom added some water, a bit too much - so much so that when she poured it out, it looked too diluted to be the 'san yong choi' sauce for Hainanese Chicken rice.

Being the inventive mom that she is, she asked me to add some cornflour and cook it... Then it looked just like the chillie sauce u pour from the bottle!

A Halloween party was coming up at Infiniti Fitness & Beyond, new gym and i voluntereed to serve some Spaghetti Ulam with 'clean' chillie sauce. I decided to make a big batch and bottled up some as gifts :)

...spreading the message of 'EATING CLEAN'

Here's what i did :

A. Blend together

15 red chillies - washed and green stems removed. You can also remove seeds for a less spicy sauce. Precut into 1 inch chunks for more even 'blender'ing

2-3 inches of young ginger - wash & scrape of skin lightly with a knife. Coarsely slice it

5-8 pips of garlic- the more ginger and garlic u add will alter the taste to a more Kampong Koh garlic chillie styled sauce

How fine should u blend the ingredients?  About this texture. It can also be finer to mimic the bottled sauce. 

I like it a little chunkier... like this  =>

B. Pour blended mixture into a small tall saucepan. Add a little boiled water to 'wash' the blender container and get out as much mixture as possible. Dont waste, right?

Why tall pan? - because when u simmer it, it tends to bubble & splash out. 

Heat the pan and stir on medium heat.  

Stir in half the amount of the following ingredients. 

6- 8 heaped teaspoons of brown sugar. 

1 teaspoon of salt

 Taste and adjust. Add more if desired. 

NOTE: I know, sugar is not  'clean' food. So u can replace & still get the sweetness by adding in the blender some chopped buah kurma (Arabic dates) or golden raisins or palm sugar (gula melaka).

Judging by the amount of sugar & salt required to make this sauce taste like the commercial ones, just imagine HOW MUCH SUGAR & SALT (besides food additives & conditioners) YOU & YOUR CHILD HAVE BEEN CONSUMING EACH TIME U DIP IN!

Then lower heat and stir in :

1-2 teaspoon cornflour mixed with a little boiled (not hot) water. 

        

Dont add it altogether. Pour a little and stir. It should quickly thicken. If it is still watery, add a bit more. 

If u add way too much cornflour, it would taste bland and gooey.

Then add :

5-6 calamansi lime / limau kasturi - juice only

Check the taste. Then remove from heat and let cool. Put into dry bottles and store in the refrigerator. 

It can keep for a few weeks if u always scoop it out with a dry spoon. A wet spoon will introduce bacteria from the water and contaminate it.  The calamansi lime juice also helps as a mild, natural preservative but with limited time span. Throw away once u see white/green spots.