Why buy?

As I mentioned in a previous post, lately I've been all about making my own sauces, condiments, etc.  With minimal effort, I'm happy to say I have a fridge stocked with homemade jams, barbeque sauce, sweet chilli sauce, preserved lemons, homemade vinaigrettes, and a couple of marinades.  I love knowing exactly what's in my food and that is made with wholesome, fresh ingredients. 

I threw a bit of the sweet chilli sauce from last week into a stir-fry that I made last night, so much better than using store-bought!  You can use it as an accompaniment to barbecued chicken or shrimp, use it in a stir fry sauce, or as-is as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or dumplings.  Mine came out pretty spicy for a sweet chilli sauce so next time I might deseed a few more of the chilis to remove some of the heat. Either way, it's super easy, will last for months, and tastes great.

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 cups white wine vinegar

2 cups water

3 lemongrass stems, peeled and sliced very thin

8 garlic cloves, peeled

15 long red chillies, 10 seeded, all chopped *

1/2 tsp salt

* The more chillies that you deseed, the less heat will be in the sauce

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, and water.  Bring to a boil

2. Meanwhile, puree lemongrass, garlic, chillies and salt in a food processor

3. Add to saucepan and simmer until reduced by half and thickened.

4. Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months.