Over the past year or so one of my favorite condiments has become Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. The combination of sweetness and mild heat compliments a variety of meats. Not only is it a great glaze for chicken and ribs but is fantastic as a dipping sauce for pulled pork spring rolls and other simple BBQ food items.
As I wondered through the Fancy Food Store I was immediately stopped in my tracks at the Ginger People booth. They had a fountain of sweet chili sauce flowing. They had taken one of those ever popular wedding reception appliances and filled it full of sweet chili sauce instead of chocolate. Anyone with that much love of their product deserved my attention.
A cube of chicken on a toothpick dipped into the fountain immediately told my tongue that this was not just any normal sweet chili sauce. The Ginger People are serious about their ginger and it shows in the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce. It’s loaded with ginger. You can see the floating in this stuff. And you know what it tastes fantastic. I’ve never been a huge fan of ginger. Not because I don’t like ginger, but because other than putting ground ginger in teriyaki sauce or eating a few thin slices when I eat sushi I had not used it all that much.
(See the end of this post for some details on the history of ginger.)
Tonight I decided to give my sample of Ginger Sweet Chili Sauce a try on some grilled fresh salmon. Because I wanted to be able to taste how the ginger and chili worked with the salmon I only used sea salt and fresh ground pepper on it.
I used my Weber 26 inch kettle to grill the salmon and some asparagus.
After 7 minutes on each side I glazed the salmon with a healthy dose of the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce and let it set for a few minutes. Toss in a small baked potato and you’ve got yourself a great meal.
The glaze was great with the salmon. The balance between sweet and hot was even handed and neither overpowered the mildness of the fish. Best of all the sweetness hit the front of the tongue immediately with a little bit of hit on the back of the throat on the way down.
Next up for the Sweet Ginger Chili Sauce will be a spatchcocked chicken. It’s going to be great, I already know that.
Ginger is native to India and China. It takes its name from the Sanskrit word stringa-vera, which means “with a body like a horn”, as in antlers. Ginger has been important in Chinese medicine for many centuries, and is mentioned in the writings of Confucius. It is also named in the Koran, the sacred book of the Moslems, indicating it was known in Arab countries as far back as 650 A.D. It was one of the earliest spice known in Western Europe, used since the ninth century. It became so popular in Europe that it was included in every table setting, like salt and pepper. A common article of medieval and Renaissance trade, it was one of the spices used against the plague. In English pubs and taverns in the nineteenth century, barkeepers put out small containers of ground ginger, for people to sprinkle into their beer — the origin of ginger ale. In order to ’gee up’ a lazy horse, it is the time honoured practice of Sussex farmers to apply a pinch of ginger to the animal’s backside. (Courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Spices)
Ginger is a tuber and a member of the Zingiberaceae family. Other members of the this plant family are turmeric and cardamon.
Awesome meal! I use Sweet Thai Chile Sauce (from Trader Joe’s) on my salmon all the time! One of my fav meals.
Kim
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