Light, very spicy sweet and sour lemongrass sauce

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 2 m.-large tomato(s), fully ripe
• 5 small onions, red
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 1 small chili pepper(s), green, fresh or frozen
• 20 g ginger, fresh or frozen
• 30 g lemongrass, fresh or frozen
• 2 g cinnamon stick(s)
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or frozen
• 4 tbsp peanut oil, refined
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, light
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar, white, Chinese, mild
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar, black, Chinese, mild
• ½ lemon(s), juice
• 4 g instant chicken broth
• 4 tbsp white sugar
• 300 g water
• 1 tsp tapioca flour
• 1 tbsp rice wine (Arak Masak)
• 10 g butter, unsalted
• e.g. Kaffir lime leaves, small, fresh or frozen

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 5 minutes

An exotic sauce for vegetables and white meat dishes. Recipe from Lombok, Indonesia. Original title: Saus Serai Asam Manis Muda.

Wash the tomatoes, halve them, remove the white-green stems, and quarter the halves lengthwise and crosswise. Trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and roughly chop them into pieces. Wash the small green chili and slice them crosswise. Leave the seeds and discard the stem. Wash the fresh ginger, peel them, and slice them thinly, then chop them into pieces. Weigh the frozen goods and thaw them. Wash the fresh lemongrass, remove the hard stem at the bottom, discard the brown and wilted leaves, and use only the white parts. Cut these into thin slices. Remove the outer green leaves if necessary. Weigh the frozen goods and thaw them. Weigh a piece of cinnamon stick. Wash the fresh kaffir limes and use them whole. Count the frozen goods and thaw them. Mix the more or less liquid ingredients, from fish sauce to sugar, with about 80g of the water. Heat a medium-sized pan, add the peanut oil, and let it heat through. Add the onions and garlic and fry until translucent. Add the prepared ingredients, chili, ginger, and lemongrass, and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Deglaze with the sauce mixture and remove from the heat. Combine the deglazed ingredients with the remaining water, the tomatoes, the leaves, and the cinnamon stick in a suitable saucepan (with a lid). Simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain gently without straining. Return the strained liquid to the pan and bring back to a boil. Discard the boiled and strained vegetables. Mix the tapioca flour and rice wine together and stir into the simmering sauce. Stop the process when the sauce begins to thicken. Season to taste, then add the butter and blend. The lemongrass sauce is ready. Served as an extra garnish with one or two kaffir lime leaves. Note: If you add 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour to the mixture, you’ll get an exotic dip.