Sweet chilli sauce

Condiments

Sweet chilli sauce

Sweet chilli sauce is easy to make at home and tastes fresher than anything from a bottle. It's the dipping sauce for spring rolls, fishcakes and chicken wings, and a quick glaze for salmon.

Red cayenne gives a bright colour and steady heat. Keep the seeds in for a hotter sauce.

  • Prep 10 min
  • Cook 15 min
  • Total 25 min
  • Makes about 400 ml

Ingredients

  • 6 red cayenne chillies, stems removed
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 200 ml rice vinegar
  • 200 g sugar
  • 125 ml water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water

Method

  1. Step 1

    Chop

    Blend or finely chop the chillies and garlic.

  2. Step 2

    Simmer

    Put the chilli mix, vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Thicken

    Stir in the cornflour mix and simmer for 2 more minutes, until thickened and glossy.

  4. Step 4

    Bottle

    Cool, then pour into a sterilised jar or bottle. It thickens more as it cools. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Grow your own

The chillies in this recipe are easy to grow from seed in New Zealand.

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