Cook the Book
Andy Ricker's Naam Jim Kai (Sweet chile dipping sauce)

This sweet chile dipping sauce is great on Andy Ricker's Whole Roasted Young Chicken from his new Pok Pok cookbook.

Reprinted with permission from Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand by Andy Ricker with JJ Goode. Copyright 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.

About This Recipe

Yield: Makes about 1 1/4 cups
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, preferably a Thai brand
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 21 grams fresh or drained pickled red Thai chiles, coarsely sliced
  • 1 1/4 ounces peeled garlic cloves, halved lengthwise
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Procedures

  1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, and water in a medium pot and set it over high heat. Bring to a vigorous simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so, whisking to help dissolve the sugar.

  2. Meanwhile, pound the chiles, garlic, and salt in a granite mortar (or pulse in a food processor) to a very coarse paste. Stir the mixture into the pot.

  3. Decrease the heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook until the liquid thickens slightly and becomes just slightly syrupy, 8 1o 12 minutes. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Let it cool to room temperature.