The basic dip sauce contains the ingredients for the preparation of other sauces. There are several variants. You can add tomatoes (cheo mak len), mushrooms (cheo het), sour bamboo (cheo no mai som), pieces of fermented fish (cheo pa dek) or shrimp paste (cheo kapi).
BASIC SAUCE
Ingredients
5 large chili peppers
1 shallot, unpeeled and cut in half
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon MSG (optional)
Method
Grill shallot, garlic and chili for 10 to 15 minutes. Peel shallot and garlic.
Crush all the ingredients in a large mortar.
VARIATIONS
Cheo mak len - Tomato sauce
Grill a large tomato with the other herbs.
Add the grilled tomato and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce in the mortar to the basic sauce and crush again until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.
Cheo het - Mushroom sauce
Grill three mushrooms with the other herbs. Chop the mushrooms.
Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce in the mortar to the basic sauce and crush again until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.
Cheo no mai som - Sour bamboo sauce
In a small saucepan, cook 50 g of sour bamboo shoots in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and let it cool down. Chop the bamboo.
Add the bamboo in the mortar and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce to the basic sauce and crush again until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.
Cheo pa dek - Fermented fish sauce
Replace the salt with a piece of pa dek, previously cooked in a pan. Add the pa dek to the basic sauce and crush again until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.
Cheo kapi - Shrimp paste sauce
Replace the salt with ½ tablespoon of shrimp paste (kapi) diluted in ½ tablespoon hot water. Add the kapi to the basic sauce and crush again until you get a homogeneous mixture.
