Sauce for chicken and shrimp - Roy Choi

 THAT’S SO SWEET

I’ve always loved the sauces in life more than the food—maybe that’s why I cook the way I do. So it’s no surprise that I’m a sauce packet fiend. If I go to a fast-food joint or the mall food court, my tray is like twenty-five deep in the packets. And it’s not that I’m hoarding all this shit; no, I have a ritual. I’m real anal about my packet game. I open ’em all before I eat anything, and make my sauces. I blend and mix and create. Then people say, “Oh, he drowns his tacos and rice bowls in too much sauce.” Guilty as charged. Drown your chicken or shrimp in this sauce.

MAKES ABOUT 4 CUP

One 25-ounce bottle Mae Ploy Sweet Chilli Sauce or other Thai sweet chili sauce

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons roasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 serrano chiles, chopped, seeds and all

5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Sriracha

¾ white or yellow onion, chopped

½ cup fresh lime juice

⅓ cup fresh orange juice

⅔ cup fresh Thai basil leaves

⅔ cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 garlic cloves, peeled

⅔ dried Anaheim chile, chopped

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger

⅔ cup chopped scallions

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kochukaru

⅔ cup natural rice vinegar (not seasoned)

1 teaspoon chopped peeled galangal

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend everything until it’s all real smooth.

Use liberally on whatever you got cooking for dinner—chicken, shrimp, everything—and pack the rest in Tupperware. It’ll store in the fridge for 2 weeks.