Hmong Hot Sauce

Kua Txob w/ Chilies, Garlic, Scallions & Cilantro

Makes: 1 cup | Prep Time: 5 mins

Make a classic Hmong hot sauce (kua txob) that's versatile and delicious alongside your favorite meats: Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, game meats and more. For this hot sauce recipe, pounding Thai chili peppers, garlic, scallions and cilantro with a mortar and pestle really opens up the various flavors. A mortar and pestle is a staple in every Hmong kitchen. And the bigger, the better. Weathered clay mortars and wooden pestles are typical, but aluminum mortars have had some popularity because they're lightweight and durable. The shape and materials of these mortars and pestles are specialized for pounding actions, not so much for grinding as granites are. Aside from crushing spices and making spicy papaya salad, they're used to make any variety of hot sauces and spicy side dishes to go with almost every meal, even breakfast.

There's a difference between chopping fresh herbs with a knife or a blade, as in a food processor, and pounding herbs until they're good and macerated. Then they release their healthful potent juices which we'll combine with fish sauce and lime juice. You'll notice that not only are the herbs green, but even the sauce itself is green. All individual ingredients meld into a singular homogenous sauce that's slightly thick so it coats meats easily. This sauce is meant to have the look and feel of an aged sauce where all ingredients have blended into a super sauce.

You could imagine that this Hmong hot sauce is spicy. Tone down the amount of chili peppers if you don't think you can take the heat. You might also want to make sure you have whole milk in the fridge to kill the fire should it get unbearable! The first few unassuming bites will seem mild enough for you to enjoy the great flavors, then the heat compounds with every additional bite and only the real chili lovers will be left standing.

This sour, spicy, garlicky sauce is a favorite Hmong hot sauce, requested with just about every meal. It's especially addicting accompanying grilled meats. Also try it with eggs, rotisserie chicken, corned beef, and dressing sandwiches. Make it a favorite at your dinner table.

• 6-12 fresh Thai chili peppers, red + green,
adjust for level of hotness desired
• 4 garlic cloves, deshelled
• 1-1/2 cup scallions, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 TBSP fish sauce, or to taste
• 1 TBSP water
• 1/2 TBSP lime juice, fresh

Rinse fresh herbs well before using. Coarsely chop scallions and cilantro.
Put chili peppers, garlic and sugar into a mortar. Pound with pestle into a chunky paste. The sugar acts as an abrasive element to help break down the ingredients faster. Add scallions and cilantro. Pound to bruise herbs until they look wilted and beaten. Add fish sauce, lime juice, and water. Mix well with a large serving spoon to combine all ingredients.
Taste for balance. You may need to adjust the amount of fish sauce depending on your brand and its sodium content.
Scoop Hmong hot sauce into a dipping bowl. Serve fresh with meats of all kinds, particularly grilled meats. Enjoy!

STORAGE TIP: Any remaining hot sauce keeps well refrigerated in an airtight non-reactive container, like a hermetic glass jar. Keeps refrigerated for up to a month, if it doesn't run out first. To avoid contamination, it is good common practice to use a clean spoon to retrieve stored dipping sauce for subsequent use.