Francis Lam ain’t no fool. When he recommends a recipe as strongly as he did this ginger-scallion sauce [1], I listen.
I like making condiments. That is a weird thing to write, but it is true. I especially like condiments that are versatile and can help you with dinner (or breakfast or lunch). This seemed to fit the bill, which made me especially excited to give it a try.
Also, I liked the part where you make a “volcano” of oil (extreme cooking! rah!).
It is the briefest of recipes.
- 2 bunches of scallions (about 6 ounces) rinsed, dried and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 ounces of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 cup of peanut oil (or other neutral-ish vegetable oil that handles heat well)
Toss the scallions into the bowl of your food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped, stop short of a puree. Put the scallions in a large heatproof bowl or pot. Add the ginger to the food processor (no need to clean it between) and pulse until it is also finely chopped. Add the ginger to the heatproof bowl with the scallions. Salt the scallion-ginger mixture—a lot. More salt than you think is good, but don’t worry you can always add more later. I used almost a tablespoon of kosher salt. Now, heat the peanut oil in a saucepan until it is very hot. Just as it starts to smoke, pour the hot oil over the salty scallions and ginger. As Lam correctly pointed out, things are about to get real. When you pour the insanely hot oil over the scallions and ginger and salt it is going to steam and hiss and bubble and scare you. Keep your wits about you! Be careful! Wear long sleeves!
Let the mixture cool in the bowl. It will smell amazing. When it is cool, transfer it to a jar and put it in the fridge. You can now enjoy it however you like.
I like it with chicken. We grilled a couple of chicken breasts, put them on a pile of brown rice and poured the sauce over. Amazing. Scrambled eggs are good too. Rice. Pork. Tofu. Ice cream. If you are anything like me, you’ll be so happy to have this in your repertoire. It should keep well in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks. One more thing, I like the sauce best at room temperature, so plan ahead.
I was joking about ice cream.
UPDATE: Check out comments to see that some folks find this too salty. I find that hard to imagine, unless you were using it with already salty food. Francis Lam agrees on lots of salt and in general condiments like this should be pretty salty. Also, please note that my measurement is for kosher salt, not regular table salt. All of this to say, maybe start with a teaspoon and add from there, especially if you are sensitive to sodium. Thanks, all!