The Vietnamese Larder Chilli & Lemongrass Sauce SEASONAL INSPIRATION

Chef Thuy Pham has inspired a cult following with her award winning restaurant the Little Viet Kitchen in London’s Islington, and now she’s sharing one of the key ingredients she cooks with so you can reproduce real Vietnamese flavours more easily at home. 

The first sauce from her new brand “The Vietnamese Larder” is her Chilli & Lemongrass Sauce – an all-purpose condiment made using only the finest and freshest ingredients. It is a family recipe tweaked and perfected through the generations to pack the full authentic taste of Vietnam into a jar.

The recipes in the pictures here are cooked by Thuy with the Vietnamese Larder Chilli & Lemongrass Sauce – massive tiger prawns drizzled with the sauce, and also Thit Kho Trung slow braised organic belly pork & egg in coconut water. To make the braised pork belly just follow Thuy’s video below, and add two ‘dollops’ of sauce on it for an extra layer of goodness. Yum!

Chef Thuy Pham has done a quick Q&A for us about the sauce:

• What’s in it? Fresh lemongrass, vegetable oil, dried shrimp, pork, sugar, dried chilli, garlic, shrimp paste, fish sauce and salt.
• When to eat it? Breakfast, brunch, elevenses, lunch, tea, dinner, supper, a midnight snack, or just because you want to!
• Where? This sauce is incredibly versatile and can be used for almost anything! Perfect for marinating, adding an authentic taste of the Mekong Delta to your stirfry, spicing up your noodles or simply using as a dip.

How to use the Chilli & Lemongrass Sauce? 

• Light Marinade: ideal for the subtlety of grilled fish, but tastes great with any meat. For best results, marinate for 15-30 minutes before grilling, but if you are really short of time, simply add a thin layer to your meat 5 minutes before you take it off the heat.
• Stir-fry Sauce: Bring out the flavours of your stir-fry by adding one teaspoon of sauce per portion, adding soy and sugar according to taste.
• Salad Dressing: A great way to spice up your salad. Mix together with balsamic vinegar or freshly squeezed lime juice with sesame or olive oil, to give your salad an awesome kick!
• Condiment: Try adding it to a cheese board or an antipasti platter when
  entertaining friends and family.
• Dipping Sauce: Make bread more exciting; make olives interesting; make carrot sticks intriguing; make chips even tastier!

Ingredients: Vegetable oil (Rapeseed oil, Antifoaming Agent:E900), Lemongrass with Chilli (24%), Sugar, Minced Pork, Shrimp paste (2%) (ground small Shrimp, Salt, preservatives: E202), Garlic Granules (Garlic, Preservatives: E220), Dried Shrimp (2%) (Shrimp, Salt), Crushed Chilli (2%), Fish Sauce (Anchovy Extract, Salt, Sugar), Chilli powder (1%), Salt.

Allergy advice: For allergens see ingredients in bold. Made in a factory that also handles sesame, wheat, gluten, molluscs, egg, soya, milk and sulphites.

Watch Thuy Cook