In Vietnamese cuisine, flavors such as sour, spicy, salty, sweet, and bitter are combined in the right balance, creating a harmonious yin-yang of flavors in the dish. Among them, sour is an essential taste as it stimulates the taste buds and makes the dish more delicious and appealing. Throughout Vietnam, each region has its own ways to create sourness for dishes. Some places use tamarind, starfruit, while others prefer lime, typical in the southern provinces and the Southeast region.
It can be said that tamarind in Southern Vietnamese cuisine is quite familiar as it brings a strong sour taste but still has a hint of sweetness. Just add a little spice and you will have a bowl of tamarind sauce to cook dishes such as chicken, tamarind ribs, tamarind stir-fried crab… Remember that for these dishes, tamarind sauce is the soul of the dish. Therefore, a delicious tamarind sauce with a rich sour taste and a hint of spiciness from chili will make the dish well-balanced and satisfying.
Tamarind in Southern Vietnamese cuisine is quite familiar as it brings a strong sour taste but still has a hint of sweetness. (Photo: Internet)
If you still don’t know how to make a delicious tamarind sauce, save the following recipe. Especially, don’t forget the “2:1:1” rule when making sauce. What is that rule? Follow the recipe below.
Ingredients:
– Ripe tamarind
– White sugar
– Tomato sauce (can be substituted with pickled tomato sauce)
– Ground chili (quantity depending on your preference for spiciness)
– Fish sauce
Instructions: First, separate the tamarind from the peel, remove the seeds by soaking the tamarind flesh in warm water. After 15 minutes of soaking, when the tamarind is soft, you can remove the seeds and gently squeeze to make the tamarind meat crushed. Strain through a sieve once again to get more tamarind water from the tamarind pulp.
Tamarind sauce (Photo: Internet)
Once you have the tamarind paste, boil the tamarind paste. Add all the spices to the pot along with the tamarind paste and then bring to a boil, while stirring to avoid sticking. When boiling, reduce the heat and continue stirring until the mixture becomes smooth and no longer watery like at first.
Here, the most important thing to remember is the ratio of spices to create a well-rounded tamarind sauce. That is the ratio of 2 sour: 1 sweet: 1 salty, also the “2:1:1” rule that we mentioned above. As for the spiciness, you can adjust it to your taste.
The ratio of 2 sour: 1 sweet: 1 salty will bring a rich tamarind sauce. (Photo: Internet)
Done with the sour, tangy, sweet, and spicy tamarind sauce. Now you can proceed to prepare the dish that requires this sauce.
Good luck!
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