Dairy Free

This is a condiment. Set it on the table and use it whenever the mood strikes. I’ve put it on everything from scrambled eggs to tuna salad, but I like it best on plain steamed vegetables.

A sprinkling of this mixture works wonders on stir-fries, even steamed vegetables. It takes no time to make and can simply be set on your table and used as the whim strikes you.

A popular accompaniment for White Cut Chicken (page 273), this is also good stirred into soups.

The spicy sweetness of this Mexican salad is super-refreshing and delicious as long as you have ripe fruit; vary the ingredients depending on what you find. Really, any fruit is suitable, from oranges and apples to pineapples and papayas; peaches and melons are wonderful summer options.

So basic yet so wonderful, this sauce has literally dozens of possible permutations. Especially good with spring, summer, or egg rolls, it’s also terrific with grilled fish or meats. If you have the time, let it sit for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavors to come together. Information on Asian fish sauces like nam pla is on page 500.

This is no more than hoisin sauce spiced up. It’s great with Spring Rolls (page 38) or Lumpia Rolls (page 68) and makes an acceptable substitute for Sesame-Chile Paste (page 591). Like every other bottled condiment, hoisin varies in quality: look for a jar that lists soy as the first ingredient and little more than that, sugar, chile, and spices. As for chili sauce, look for Vietnamese chili-garlic sauce, sold at almost every Asian food store; like hoisin sauce, it keeps indefinitely in your refrigerator.

This salad is found throughout Southeast Asia. It’s a great dish for entertaining since it must marinate for at least an hour before being served and can sit for a couple of hours after that.

A good all-purpose fresh chile sauce, one that will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. Hot but flavorful; great for bland foods, such as Hainanese Chicken Rice (page 275).

Canned coconut milk is great stuff—I use it all the time. But fresh coconut milk—made from dried, unsweetened coconut, which is sold at every health food store (and many Indian, Latin, and Caribbean markets)—is cheap, easy, delicious, and pure. You can make coconut milk thick or thin, depending on the proportions of water to coconut; this is a fairly rich blend, equivalent to canned coconut milk. The coconut also can be reused to make a thinner milk from a second pressing.

An unusually versatile preparation, good as an appetizer, a side dish, or a salad, and as appropriate over lettuce as it is solo. Can be made days and days in advance.

Still fiery, but mellower than raw chile sauces (and, of course, somewhat more work). Incredible on grilled chicken. This will keep fairly well, but because of the lime juice it is definitely at its best when fresh; thus I keep the quantity small. Information on Asian fish sauces like nam pla is on page 500.

Like coconut milk, this is nearly universal, seen from Mexico to Thailand to India. For information about tamarind, see the sidebar on page 587.

The strong, unusual aroma of nam pla (Thai fish sauce, page 500) is not something that instantly appeals to many Westerners. But when you cook with it, or mix it with other flavors, its wonderful, characteristic saltiness blossoms. This incredibly simple dressing is great with seafood or mixed greens.

This is an essential, basic, slightly sweet Thai sauce (the Vietnamese nuoc cham is almost identical) used as a dressing for vegetables, noodles, meats, and fish and as a dipping sauce for almost any tidbit of food. Addictive, if you ask me. (Try it with plain grilled shrimp and you’ll see.) Many people make this blazingly hot; my version is much tamer. If you add five, or even ten, small Thai chiles, you won’t be breaking with tradition. See page 500 for information on Asian fish sauces like nam pla, page 185 for a description of dried shrimp.

A complex, multipurpose sauce that is good enough to eat with a spoon; adjust the proportions to your taste once you get used to it. Serve it warm, with Grilled Satay (page 101), Fried Satay (page 100), Spring Rolls (page 38), or simply rice crackers, sold at many Asian and health food markets, or other crackers. See page 500 for information on Asian fish sauces like nam pla.

Who knew something so simple could be so good? Ground, toasted sticky rice is an ingredient used as a binder in some Thai dishes, but it’s also sprinkled over sticky rice as a seasoning, contributing a toasty, smoky note. Unless you make Thai food with unusual frequency, I think it’s best to make single-meal batches, though you could easily multiply this recipe. Use it in Laarb (page 199), or sprinkle over sticky rice any time you make it.

This fiery, strong northern Thai specialty (if it’s made correctly, you will really reek after eating it, but it’s worth it) has become one of the most popular dishes in Thailand and at Thai restaurants in the States. When I was in Bangkok, I could not walk down the streets or through the markets without at least a dozen offers of Som Tum from the vendors, and it was hard not to stop for a little dish with some grilled meat and sticky rice. You can usually find green, or unripe, papayas and yard-long beans (and the Thai fish sauce called nam pla) at Asian or Latin groceries, but you can also substitute Granny Smith apples for the papaya and Napa cabbage for the beans.

Used widely for spring rolls, this also tastes great with plain grilled meat or chicken or spooned over lightly steamed vegetables. You can substitute soy sauce for the nuoc mam (usually called nam pla in this book and described on page 500, but in any case Southeast Asian fish sauce) if you prefer.

Morocco’s oranges are renowned for their distinctive sweetness, but they’re not common here. Use good California or Florida navels or clementines (you’ll need six or eight) instead. Removing the thin membranes from the individual segments is an optional refinement.

Sambal is the generic name given to sauces in Indonesia, and this is the most basic. Nuts, coconut, dried shrimp, sugar, garlic, and other seasonings are often added before using this as a condiment for noodle, rice, and other dishes. If you want a really fiery sambal, leave in the chile seeds.