Chinese Dipping sauces

I am a big fan of chinese dipping sauces. I love them with my schnitzels, with steak (yeah, I know), with grilled chicken etc or add them to stir fries and sauces. I even put them on my sandwiches and have them with chips... you get the picture.

There is just one problem with it: The store bought sauces are filled with all types of  stabalizers and what have you not. So I started experimenting with making them at home. Have fun making them too:

Sweet Chili Sauce

Sweet and a little spicy. A staple in my house. This recipe is very quick and simple to make.Only twist to the store bought sauce is the addition cilantro, which kicks the whole thing up a notch.

Yield: 2 cups

2-4 tablespoons hot ground chili paste or chilli flakes (according to taste)

2-4 teaspoons minced garlic (again according to taste)

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons cornstarch

4 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Combine everything, except the cilantro, in a small sauce pan and mix. Once blended, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cliantro.

Sweet and sour plum sauce

1 can crushed pineapple in syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. and 2 tbsp water

1 c. vinegar

1 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 c. plum jam

Heat pineapple with syrup, sugar, 1 cup water, vinegar and soy sauce to boiling. Mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water, stir into pineapple mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature, stir in plum jam. Cover and refrigerate. Makes 6 cups.

Hoisin Sauce

1.5 cups soy sauce

1 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp of honey

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp hot sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp of white pepper

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Makes 4 servings

Basic Vinaigrette with variations

With spring being here I find myself wanting more and more salads. Now, I really enjoy salads and especially in the warmer month this is some food that does not require any cooking.

Another thing I really look for in my food is variations. I don’t like tasting the same over and over again. One way that I spice up a simple salad is real quick and simple: salad dressings. Below you have the recipe for a very basic vinaigrette, followed by a few variations.

There are different ways of making dressing, which will also influence the texture. One way is by adding everything into a glass container (e.g. an old jam glass), close the lid and shake vigorously for a few seconds. This will be like the bottled version that you get.

On the other hand, if you whisk it, either manually or in a mixer, you will get a really smooth, velvety dressing – more like what you get in restaurants.

Both versions work fine. I usually make up quite a bit at a time and then use it during the week.

A very simple way of making variations is using herbs. Dried herbs have a more intense flavor but need extra time to rehydrate and release their flavorings and should be prepared about 2 hours in advance.  If you don’t have fresh herbs, which are always preferred, you need to substitute it with about ¼ of the original quantity with dried herbs – that means if a recipe calls for 4 tsp fresh chopped herbs, you need only 1 tsp dried herbs.

You can add just about anything. You can also play around slightly with the vinegar-oil ratio, however, the basic ratio is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil.

Basic vinaigrette

1/2 cup wine vinegar (red, white, balsamic)

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Mustard Honey vinaigrette:

Add 1 tsp French Dijon and 1 tbs honey.

Herbed vinaigrette:

Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 1 tbsp. fresh minced basil, and 1 tsp. marjoram, chives to the Mustard Honey vinaigrette.

Herbed Italian vinaigrette:

Add 1/4 cup chopped parsley, 5 cloves minced garlic, 2 tbsp. fresh minced basil, 1 tsp. fresh minced oregano (optional), 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes.

Piquant Dressing:

Add 1 chopped hard cooked egg, 1 tsp. mustard, 1 tbsp. finely chopped onion (green works great), 1 tsp. paprika.

Avocado Dressing:

Add 1 cup pureed avocado and blend until smooth. Add a little bit of lemon juice (stops it from going brown/grey).

Sour Cream or Buttermilk Dressing:

Add 1 cup sour cream or buttermilk to basic dressing and blend until smooth. Add herbs as desired.