This is a delicious blend of chilli and tomato, scented with cinnamon and flavoured with fish sauce—a heap-full of Asian ingredients that is yet, strangely, Western. Served with steamed crabs, prawns, clams and mussels for a seafood feast that’s healthy and full-flavoured.
Ingredients:
3 large red onions
1 red bell pepper
10 large red chilli, seeded
200g honey red tomatoes
1 bulb garlic, peeled into whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon, broken in two
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup oil
Method:
1. Quarter onions, cut up red bell pepper and place in a blender with the chopped chilli, peeled garlic and oil.
2. Blend to a rough paste.
3. Place paste in a non-stick frying pan with cinnamon stick and stir-fry over medium heat until mixture is fragrant.
4. Add fish sauce and sugar and continue stirring until jam darkens and a red oil surfaces.
5. Cool and serve as a dip for seafood, or cold chicken. You may also add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice just before serving.
Pauline is a journalist, culinary researcher and cookbook author with a particular interest in food culture and history. Currently working on her fourth and fifth cookbooks, Pauline also maintains a food and travel column in China daily, China's largest English news publication.
