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Basic Recipes

Whether you call them dips, sauces, sambals, or salsas, tangy accompaniments are an integral part of Southeast Asian food. No matter how simple the meal, there’ll always be a little something on the side for extra flavor. Serve a bowl of noodle soup or some grilled chicken and you’ll probably want to add Simple Thai Fish Sauce and Chili Dip, or Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip. Malaysian and Singaporean noodle dishes just wouldn’t be the same without the emphatic Malaysian Chili and Dried Shrimp Paste Dip (Sambal Belacan). Many Cambodian dishes respond instantly to Cambodian Salt, Lime and Black Pepper Dip and it’s impossible to imagine a plate of deep-fried spring rolls without the famous Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip. Although you can enjoy most of these dips as a condiment, you can also scoop many of them up with an array of ingredients called “dippers.” Dips together with the dipper of your choice (such as Burmese Tangy Tomato Dip with deep-fried tofu skin or pork cracklings, for example) are often served as a between-meal snack, but they could just as well be enjoyed as the prelude to a main meal or put on the table together with the rice and other dishes. It’s not just dips and sambals that add extra zing to a meal; there are various relishes, freshly-made pickles and side-salads too. The ubiqituous Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot salad, excellent Cambodian Red Bell Pepper Relish and Malay Cucumber and Pineapple Salad are just some of the side-dishes that add a refreshing note to meals based on rice.

Cucumber and Pineapple Salad Kerabu timun and nenas

I’ll admit that if you’re not fortunate enough to live in Southeast Asia, it’s pretty hard to find the intensely fragrant wild pink ginger bud (usually called torch ginger, although botanists are still arguing whether it’s Nicolaia sp or Phaemeria sp). Even without such an exotic ingredient, you can still make this refreshing salad. Its crunchy texture and sweet-sour tang make it particularly good with braised or fried food, or curries.

Serves 4–6

Preparation time: 20 mins

1 cucumber (about 1 lb/500 g)

1 teaspoon salt

2 thin slices fresh pineapple (about 10 oz/300 g), peeled, cored, and diced

2 tablespoons thinly sliced ginger bud (see Note)

Dressing

4 tablespoons dried shrimp, toasted in a dry wok,

4–5 minutes

1–2 red finger-length chilies, sliced

1 teaspoon dried shrimp paste, toasted (page 22)

1–2 tablespoons lime juice, depending on sweetness of pineapple

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Rake the skin of the cucumber with a fork and then rub all over with the salt. Rinse under running water, squeeze the cucumber, then cut into four lengthwise. Cut across into 1/₂-in (1-cm) dice and put in a bowl with the pineapple and ginger bud, if using.

2 Make the Dressing by grinding all the ingredients to a smooth paste in a spice grinder or blender. Add to the cucumber and pineapple, toss and serve immediately.

NOTE: If you can’t get ginger bud, cook 1/2 cup (40 g) freshly grated or desiccated coconut in a dry wok over very low heat, stirring until it turns rich brown, taking care it does not burn. While the coconut is still hot, process or pound it to an oily paste. Cool, then add to the cucumber and pineapple together with the Dressing.

Vinegared Cucumber Salad Yam tan gwa

Variations of this easy salad—my standby for when I don’t have a variety of vegetables on hand—are found throughout the region, partnering the cool crunchiness of cucumber with sweet, sour, salty and sometimes hot flavors. This Thai version add peanuts for extra crunch, though you could omit these if you prefer. This palate-cleansing salad is good at just about any meal, especially when fried food is served.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 mins

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cucumber (about 1 lb/500 g), peeled

1 red finger-length chili, deseeded if desired, thinly sliced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons coarsely crushed dry-roasted peanuts (optional)

1 Put the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.

2 Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scrape out the pulpy portion only if the seeds are well formed. Cut across into 1/2 -in (1-cm) slices and toss with the vinegar mixture.

3 Add the chili and shallots, mix, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter the top with the peanuts.

Tangy Tomato Dip Khayan chin thi pantwe pyaw

This roasted tomato dip is a specialty of the Shan tribe of Burma, who usually add their distinctive dried fermented soybean wafers for extra flavor; however, easily available salted soybean paste makes an adequate substitute. Roasting the tomatoes, chilies, shallots and garlic over charcoal gives this dip a wonderful flavor, but even if you have to use a grill, broiler, or a dry wok, you’ll still be delighted with the result.

Serves 4–6

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

8 shallots, unpeeled

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

4 green finger-length chilies

4–6 small tomatoes

1 tablespoon salted soybean paste

1/2–3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

Salt, to taste

1 heaped tablespoon finely minced fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)

1 Put the shallots, garlic and chilies on a fine mesh grill over a barbecue or under a hot grill; alternatively, put them in a dry wok. Cook over medium heat, turning several times. Remove the chilies as soon as they soften, taking care the skin does not blacken, but keep cooking the shallots and garlic until the skins start to blacken and the inside is soft.

2 Slice off the stem end of the chilies. Cut each chili lengthwise and discard the seeds. Slice the chilies and put them in a mortar or spice grinder. Remove the blackened skins from the shallots. Cut the rounded end off each garlic clove, grab the skin of the other end and squeeze out the garlic. Add the shallots and garlic to the chilies.

3 Cook the tomatoes in the same way as the other ingredients, turning until they start to soften. Transfer to a plate, peel, then chop coarsely.