Perfect Seafood Sauce

When it comes to seafood, nothing beat the ultimate Thai seafood sauce. Growing up in the south of Thailand, seafood is abundant. I grew up on the coast and seafood was a regular at our dining table. Even after I moved to Bangkok, the coast is only 2 1/2 hours away. This is also the perfect food for raw oysters. I often take this sauce wit me when invited for an oyster party. It is always the biggest hit of the party. It is great on grilled, steamed or boiled seafood. I usually don't season my seafood when cooking it. The natural sweetness of fresh seafood is enough and the sauce will enhance that sweetness. I have been buying my seafood from San Miguel Seafood. Roberto now has a seafood market integrated into a seafood restaurant Monger's on Cesar Chavez. The recipe is easy and will make an excellent salad dressing too.

Ingredients:

4 red or green fresh Thai chillies, minced (about 2 tbsp)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tbsp Thai fish sauce

4 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp chopped cilantro with stems

you can make it as spicy as you want by adding more chillies in there. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until almost smooth. Pulsing seems to be the best way to control the consistency to not get too smooth. You can also make it by putting Thai chilies and garlic in a mortar and pound the two ingredients into a corse paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. I prefer the mortar and pestle method. Spices get more fragrance when ground together that way.