Ginger Spring Onion Sauce

OMG this sauce is the business! It’s fresh. It’s zesty. It’s got lovely warmth from the ginger. And I love the crunchy texture you get from the spring onions. You have to try it!

I’ve adapted the recipe from three sources, the brilliant Momofuku cookbook, my friend Aggie (whose family are Hong Kong Chinese) and Melbourne chef Andrew McConnell who writes for the Saturday Paper.

The first time I made it we had it with chicken steamed in the slow cooker (remind me to tell you about that another time). Just loved how the moist clean chicken flavours were brought to life by this vibrant sauce. It’s also great with pulled pork (in a Korean style Bo Ssam). But you could pretty much use it with any chicken… stir fried, roast or BBQ. It’s also a great way to dress up good old egg fried rice.

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Ginger Spring Onion Sauce

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 bunch ‘spring’ onions * whites and greens, finely sliced
• thumb sized piece ginger grated
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning as you think it needs it. A little more soy for extra salt, more vinegar if you think it’s a bit lifeless. Or just regular sea salt if it’s lacking something you can’t quite put your finger on.
• Stand for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour before serving with your choice of chicken (see note above). If you need to store for longer pop it in the fridge and bring back to room temp before serving. Will keep for a week or so.

Notes

Enough for about 4 people

Variations

warm sauce – heat oil in a small saucepan until hot to touch then pour over the remaining ingredients. (This is good but I prefer the freshness of my recipe).

different vinegar – sherry vinegar is totally my favourite here but you could use any wine vinegar. If you have Chinkiang vinegar it would be good too.

* a note about ‘spring onions’ – in Australia they’re often sold as ‘shallots’. The ones you need don’t have the big bulby onion bit at the bottom (which I call ‘spring onions’). I think the correct term is green onions but I didn’t want to confuse you! What do you call them?

soy-free – just season with sea salt. If you have access to coconut aminos they would be the best substitute.

vegetarian – serve sauce with cooked noodles.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

‘spring’ onions – keep in the fridge in a plastic bag for weeks.

ginger – will keep in the fridge for months or you can freeze it.

sherry or rice vinegar, soy sauce, extra virgin olive oil – keep them in the pantry.