This is the recipe for the garlic chilli sauce that accompanies Hainanese chicken rice. It’s hot, tangy and garlicky. To me, a plate of Hainanese chicken rice is simply incomplete without this chilli sauce as well as ginger sauce, the other important condiment.
Apart from Hainanese chicken rice, this chilli sauce goes well with many dishes and steamed chicken in general.
A food processor (pic above) greatly speeds up the process of making this recipe. If you don’t have one, you can use a traditional mortar and pestle to pound the dry ingredients first. The chilli sauce keeps in the fridge for about a week.
Use finger-length red chillis (seeds removed) for the colour, and red chilli padi (seeds on) for the heat. Cut the ingredients to uniform small chunks to ensure even blending.
In a food processor, blend everything to a smooth paste. Season to taste with sugar, salt or chicken seasoning powder, if needed. Keeps for about a week in the fridge.