Name: Coconut-Red Curry Grilling Sauce
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups coconut milk; 1/4 cup juice and 1/2 teaspoon finely grated zest from 2 limes; 1 tablespoon red curry paste; 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 1/3 cup water; 1/3 cup sugar

Why This Recipe Works

In lieu of the chemical emulsifiers that manufacturers rely on to built viscosity, we came up with an unconventional thickener to use in our Coconut–Red Curry Grilling Sauce recipe: caramel. It was super-adhesive, tacky, and quick to prepare. We also wanted our Coconut–Red Curry Grilling Sauce recipe to have a balance of sweet-tangy flavors and a spicy kick, so we paired coconut milk with red curry paste and then rounded it out with lime zest and fish sauce.

Instructions

Whisk coconut milk, lime juice, zest, curry paste, and fish sauce in medium bowl.

Place water in heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan; pour sugar in center of pan, taking care not to let sugar crystals adhere to sides of pan. Cover and bring mixture to boil over high heat; once boiling, uncover and continue to boil until syrup is thick and straw-colored, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until syrup is golden amber, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Quickly remove saucepan from heat and whisk in coconut-red curry mixture. Return to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until caramel has dissolved and sauce has thickened, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer ½ cup sauce to medium bowl to use for grilling. Set aside remaining sauce for serving.