I’ve got another favourite condiment recipe to share with you today. I particularly like this one because it adds a ton of freshness to everything you serve it with, even if it’s been sitting in the fridge for weeks. And because it seems to stay good in the fridge for weeks and continue to taste fresh, it’s a lovely way to preserve fresh flavours between trips to the grocery store.

I pretty much keep this stuff on hand at all times. In addition to simply tasting really fresh, it’s also got a little kick. It tastes great with eggs so I love using it on breakfast sandwiches and honestly sandwiches of all types. It’s actually a pretty great way to improve anything that needs a little more flavor. Got some bland black beans – add zhug. Got some day old rice – add zhug. Found some leftover turkey in the freezer – add zhug. You won’t be disappointed.

Anyway, here’s my recipe since I know that’s all you really want.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 – 6 green Thai chilis, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup cilantro, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 1 cup parsley, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

You might notice a number of repeat ingredients from the dipping sauce recipe I shared last week so if you haven’t tried that yet, you could plan on making both next time you get groceries :).

Zhug ingredients

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse to combine.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can use whole spices and grind them freshly, but I’m usually a little too lazy for that kind of luxury. But I sometimes add a little lemon juice for a little extra brightness. It’s not much to look at, but the taste makes up for it, I promise.

Zhug

Stay safe and sane.

3 responses to “Zhug”

  1. Those Thai chilies – are they dried? And what’s the story behind the name zhug?

    1. The Thai chilis are available fresh. I usually get them from an Asian market but they can definitely be found in some conventional grocery stores. You’ll generally find pretty big packages of them and generally only need like 4 so I wash and freeze the rest of them for later use. A single jalapeno chili would be a decent substitute.

      And I can’t claim to know much about the story of zhug aside from the fact Trader Joe’s carried or possibly still carries a version of it that I don’t love, but here’s a link if you want to follow the rabbit hole.

  2. […] Zhug – fresh Yemeni hot sauce […]

Leave a Reply

Trending

Discover more from Downtown Luxury Slum

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from Downtown Luxury Slum

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading