This past week I made the Jaew recipe from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook to go with his Nua Kem recipe. I had heard of jaew, but never made it nor tried it.

Kenji indicates two key ingredients that are a little harder to come by, prik pon (Thai roasted and ground chiles) and khao khua (toasted glutinous rice powder). He notes, though, that “you can make this delicious dipping sauce using any type of ground dried chiles in place of the prik pon and omitting the khao khua (just don’t tell any Thai food purists you know).”

I had Thai glutinous rice on hand, so I made some khao khua according to Kenji’s directions: cooking in a pan until toasty brown and then grinding in a mortar and pestle. For the prik pon, I had some ground Thai chiles, but I’m not sure if it’s the same as what Kenji is calling for. I used it anyways.

To make the jaew, garlic and palm sugar are pounded into a paste in a mortar and pestle. Then prik pon, khao khua, fish sauce, and lime juice are stirred in until the paste dissolves. Finally, sliced shallots and finely chopped cilantro are stirred in.

The final result is a spicy, salty loose sauce with a touch of sourness.

I am cooking my way through J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s The Wok cookbook. Read more about it.