NEVER ENOUGH GARLIC

We first encountered this flavour explosion of a sauce in a little wok restaurant, and we just had to know what it was. It tasted far too amazing to only eat once in a while when dining out. One thing was certain: we needed to have loads of it at home. So after playing around with different types of homemade Szechuan sauce, we finally struck gold. 

This sauce is a lot spicier than the one we tried at the restaurant, and definitely has more garlic in it too, but that's the way we like it. It can be added to noodles like in our Amazing, Vegan Udon Noodles or used as a flavour booster in any number of dishes, soups, sauces, etc. We always have a jar of it at hand now, and after trying it, so will you. 

Ingredients:

• 100 ml (0.5 cup) low sodium soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp. tamari sauce
• 1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. vegetable fond (like Asian Fond: Hot and Spicy by Touch of Taste)
• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar or Chinese rice wine
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 6-8 dried red chillies (adjust according to chilli preferences)
• 2 red onions
• 12 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1.5 tsp. ginger powder
• 2 tsp. cane sugar or maple syrup (if you want a sweeter sauce, add more)
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns or black peppercorns
• 5-6 tbsp. olive oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Add a few tablespoons of oil to a frying pan/wok and heat up.
2. Finely chop the onion and add to the pan. 
3. When the onion starts turning golden brown, add the crushed garlic. 
4. Add the peppercorns to the pan as well.
5. Using a scissor, cut the dried chillies into pieces and toss in the pan.
6. While the onion, garlic, chilli, and pepper lightly fry, mix the soy sauce, dark soy, tamari sauce, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, fond, and lemon juice together in a jug. Pour it into the pan with onions, etc.
7. Add the spices to the pan and mix well. 
8. Let simmer until the sauce has thickened. We prefer to let it thicken to an almost paste-like consistency and freeze it in cubes in an ice cube tray. But you can pour it into a clean, airtight jar and keep it in the fridge for about a week.