Chilli Sauce for Momos

One of the most exciting things about the last few weeks is that a couple of local restaurants have organised a regular doorstep delivery. They make the food, deliver it chilled, and you reheat it in your oven. According to current advice, this is the safest way to be sure your food doesn’t carry the virus (though chances of that are fairly low). I’m particularly keen to use this because I had a full month without a break from cooking, having no option but to cook and wash up for every meal for myself. I like cooking, but sometimes we all want a break. I am also happy to support some local businesses who are otherwise possibly losing their livelihood.

One of the most exciting moments was finding out that Taste Tibet, a food stand that comes to all the markets and festivals in the area, was offering this sort of home delivery service. During normal life, it is always a high point in my week when I can get to the Wednesday market in Oxford and get momos from Taste Tibet. If you don’t know what momos are, they’re like Chinese steamed dumplings, or bao (steamed bun), but with stronger spices, influenced by the South Asian subcontinent. They are YUM!! I especially love them with a tangy tomato chilli sauce, but under current circumstances, Taste Tibet is just sending them with a bit of soy vinegar (also delicious!). So I decided to make my own chilli sauce. It’s totally vegan and gluten free, and it would be great with a wide range of different foods from all over the world. You could even use it like a salsa or a chutney. The Sichuan peppercorns are very unique and I love them in this– they are spicy but umami and tangy, and they numb your tongue a little bit, which actually allows you to taste more complex flavours in spicy dishes.

Chilli Sauce for Momos

Ingredients

1 tomato (large on the vine or similar)

2 fresh chillies split down the middle (deseed for less spice) (if you only have dried whole chillies, soak in warm water for a half hour before splitting)

2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole

3-4 Sichuan peppercorns, whole (skip if you don’t have)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar (use rice wine vinegar or white vinegar if you don’t have)

Vegetable oil

Ground black pepper

Splash of water

Directions

1. Boil a small saucepan with enough water to completely cover the tomato. When it’s at a full rolling boil, drop the tomato in whole (if the green stem is still attached, leave it and use it to drop it in, it makes it even easier). Boil the tomato whole for 6 minutes.
2. When the tomato has boiled for 6 minutes, add the split chillies and boil the tomato and the chillies together for a further three minutes. Once done, drain the veg in a colander and leave to cool.
3. Put about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in the now empty sauce pan and put back on the burner over medium heat. Toss in the garlic cloves, and cook whole in the oil for a few minutes. Move the pan around so the hot oil cooks all sides of the garlic. Stop cooking when they are wrinkly on the outside, but not yet brown. A little golden is ok, but we want the inside of the cloves to still be uncooked– a little bit of fresh garlic flavour is good in this sauce.
4. Once the garlic is wrinkly, through the cloves in their oil into your blender. Peel the tomato– this should be very easy because of the boiling. Add the tomato and chillies to the blender. Add the whole Sichuan peppercorns, sugar, salt, vinegar, and a few grinds of black pepper. Blend it all for a few seconds to break up all the pieces.
5. Add a splash of water and blend everything to as smooth a paste as you can achieve.
6. Pour the sauce back into the sauce pan and place over low heat. Bring to a steam, but don’t let it bubble or boil. Stir often. Once steaming, cook for 4 minutes. Pour into a container and chill. Serve with piping hot momos later!

Sorry, no pics! Will add next time I make it.