Kim Chee BBQ Sauce
Chef Margot shares with us her favorite BBQ sauce to add spice to any dish.
I was once given the compliment that I made someone’s nose bleed with this recipe. Of course, that came from someone who lived for hot chiles and ridiculously spicy food. That being said, you can, of course, adjust the heat level in this recipe to your personal taste – I like it medium-scorch, myself. I use this sauce mostly for chicken, but it’s pretty snappy on a pork loin chop (double-cut, if you please!), a flank steak or a whole bass or salmon, scored deeply and cooked whole.
Ingredients
1 cup spicy fermented kim chee
¼ to 1 cup chile-garlic sauce. Huy Fong brand is easy to find, and it’s sold as sambal oelek
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
4” fresh lemongrass stalk, lightly crushed (trim off bottom and top, lay it down on your cutting board, and bash it lightly with the back spine of your knife)
2” fresh ginger root, scrubbed, sliced thin
6 fresh garlic cloves
1-3 tbsp. fish sauce, or to taste
Directions
Place all ingredients in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat for about 20 minutes. Stir gently a few times to be sure the garlic doesn’t stick and that the sugar is dissolves. When the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is bubbling slowly, remove it from the heat and allow the flavors to marry. This is best done the night before you need the sauce. Before application, you may puree the sauce in a blender, and strain it, if you prefer a smoother sauce. But it all depends on your personal taste and what you’re using it for. For instance, if I’m doing it on fish, I won’t strain the sauce, but will use the thickness to really work it into the scored sides of the fish, where if I’m using it for a pork loin or flank steak, I might strain part for glazing and leave half unstrained for a dipping sauce.
Chef Margot demonstrates how this delicious sauce can be used on lamb!
This sauce really makes the most of the kim chee’s bright funkyness of flavor and smell. It sings when used on something cooked over charcoal or hardwood coals. Serve it with something cooling, like a mango lassi, cold soba noodles or a really amazing summer salad.