August 13, 2020

Thai spicy tamarind dipping sauce – Nam Jim Jaew

This dipping sauce is amazing on all sorts of grilled meats. I particularly like it when it is served with Gai Yang, Thai grilled chicken. There are many recipes for nam jim jeaw but this one is made using prepared tamarind for acidity. Some recipes use lime juice but the idea is always the same. A tangy, salty, spicy, and barely sweet sauce to accentuate your grilled meats.

Prepared tamarind can be a bit confusing to some people but it is actually quite simple. The flesh of the tamarind fruit, which is a bit dense and chewy, is mixed with water until it reaches the consistency of a puree. This “puree” is then used in a number of dishes to lend acidity and flavor.

You most often see tamarind in two forms here in the US, jarred prepared tamarind and packaged tamarind pulp. If you find prepared tamarind, you don’t need to do anything more to it, it is ready to use in most recipes. If you find tamarind pulp, you need to takes a small piece and put it in a bowl with an equal amount of warm water. Let is sit for a few minutes. Using you hands, massage the tamarind pulp until it starts to loosen up. keep adding water and massaging until an apple sauce consistency is achieved.

Make sure you use a good quality roasted chili powder . It is easy to make at home. Dry arbol chilies works well for this, but you can use any dry chili to suit your taste. Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies. Toast them in a 350 Fahrenheit oven until they are aromatic and start to deepen in color, about 6 minutes. Cool and crush in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder into a coarse powder. Make extra and you can use it for other dishes.

The toasted rice powder is made by toasting uncooked sticky rice in a pan or in the oven until it is a light golden color. Use medium heat (or a 350F oven) and toast for 10 to 15 minute. After toasting, allow it to cool and crush in a mortar and pestle until a course powder similar to ground coffee is achieved. The toasted rice powder brings an interesting texture and nutty flavor to the sauce.