This relish has such good flavors and intense heat; just the right combination of spicy, sour, salty and sweet harmonizing together to create a condiment which will enhance any plate. I tasted it for the first time during the spring of 2016 when I was working on one project in Taiwan. Most of our lunches and dinners were prepared by a Thai woman who was making this spicy sauce/relish to accompany the food.

I believe that this sauce/relish is actually some variant of Nam Phrik (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_phrik) but I am unable to find a recipe online which matches the one I know so I will continue to call it ChengLong Spicy Sauce after the town where I know it from.



Ingredients:

100g dried anchovies

100g fresh Bird's Eye/Thai chilies

200g tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are ideal, but use what you have)

1 tbsp of sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

3 or 4 tbsp of oil

1 or 2 tbsp of lemon juice (to taste)

Tools:

a deep frying pan

a knife

a spatula





ChengLong Spicy Sauce is fiery and addictive but it can also cause some serious burning during the preparation as well as when you are eating it so take precautions when cutting those chilies and pace yourself when eating it. As there are probably innumerable variations on this recipe, you can also try adding garlic, onion, fish sauce, tamarind paste, dried shrimp and other ingredients to specialize it to your own particular palette.



One idea to warm up the holiday season of your friends and relatives is to multiply the recipe and make a really large batch so that you can give pack ChengLong Spicy Sauce into bottles and give it away as inexpensive but heartwarming and very appreciated gifts.