I have never made my own dipping sauce before. Typically I’m happy with what already comes in a jar. While this is not my first Preserve It! recipe for the season, it was my first adventure into preserving this year. I wanted to get started earlier, but it was just too hot in my kitchen. This sauce was also a good place to start for trying something new. No mashing of anything, no pectin to measure and generally safe for trying new things.
To fully understand, here’s a little background. I grew up with my parents canning tomatoes and pickles every year on Labor Day weekend. As far as I knew, that was really all there was to can. Silly, I know. So last year, I started in my comfort zone of tomatoes and moved on to experimenting with applesauce, hot pepper jelly and pickled beets which I absolutely plan to do again since they were so good in my salads all year long. This year though I’ve been determined to try more. Enter: Hot and Sweet Thai Dipping Sauce from Fresh Preserving.
Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp salt
6 cups cider vinegar
6 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup hot pepper flakes
What’s Next:
- Prepare your canner, jars, and lids.
- In a small bowl, combine garlic and sale. Set aside.
- In a large stainless steel pan, bring vinegar to a boil. Add sugar and stir until fully dissolved.
- Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add garlic mixture and hot pepper flakes. Stir well.
- Ladel hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1/2′ of space at top. Place lids on jars and tighten.
- Place jars in canner. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes.
Notes from my experience:
When pouring the hot sauce into the jars, don’t get too close. Between the vinegar and the hot pepper flakes, the fumes will certainly clear your sinuses!
Now– where to use it: As I had to remind myself, this is a dipping sauce, not a jelly. It’s very “liquidy” and runny. Think of the sauce that you would dip a Chinese dumpling or shumai into. And there you have it. While I have not experimented with all of these things, I would dip dumplings, egg rolls, and tempura in this sauce.
You can follow all of my cooking adventures on Twitter: @TracyCooksIt
