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recipe-help Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce - Imitation Recipe?

P

Pharthan

So, I decided yesterday that I wanted to try to make an imitation Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce. My wife tried it in Thailand and was hooked on it. She's not a fan of other hot sauces, and I'd like to make something she'd eat as well.

I'm making a small batch as a trial run.
So far, I've decided upon the following:
 

  • ~150 g red Pickled Thai Chili Peppers
  • 3/4 cups white vinegar
  • 3/4 cups water
  • 1/2 cups sugar
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • Xanthan Gum

Biggest thing to figure out is the vinegar-water-sugar balance. Most recipes I see seem to be all over the place.
I've got a few days to wait for to make this recipe. Most imitation recipes I see don't call for pickling the peppers, but Mae Ploy does list in in their ingredients list, so yesterday I set about pickling the peppers:

Pickling Recipe -

- ~15 Thai Chilis, Dried & Roasted
-1 cup distilled water
-1 cup distilled white vinegar
-1 Tbsp Pickling Salt
-1/2 Jalapeno
-Black peppercorns, Garlic Powder
-3 cloves garlic

Should be good in just over a week. If I want to add the jalapenos, I might wait longer since they're thicker skinned.
 
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I've been playing around with a sweet thai chilli sauce recipe for an upcoming making hot sauce class.  Here's one that turned out pretty good-
 
1 pound fresh red fresno peppers- wash, trim, remove the bulk of the seeds*
1/2 cup fresh garlic cloves
 12oz (1 bottle) plain rice vinegar
*optional- 1 bag (12 oz?) frozen mango chunks or 1 1/2c fresh mango
3c water
1 1/3c sugar
5 Tbsp corn starch
 
Yield- 5 cups
 
* fresno peppers (those generic red chile peppers commonly available in most supermarkets) seem to have a ton of seeds.  I don't care for really seedy sauces, so when using Fresnos I cut them open and pull out the wad of seeds.  Don't worry about getting all of them out, just the bulk of 'em.
 
*Also, our produce section has bags of peeled garlic cloves.  It's about a 6 oz bag with 5-6 small packets of cloves.  One packet is about 1/4 cup cloves.  Easy way to keep fresh cloves around for a few weeks without having to deal with peeling a bunch.
 
Run garlic cloves through the food processor until finely minced.  Add peppers (and mango) pulse until peppers are small bits, but not pureed. Add some of the vinegar or water if needed to keep it all moving.
 
Put pepper mix, vinegar and about half the water in a sauce pan, simmer until veggies are soft.  Mix corn starch with the other half of the water.  Add sugar and corn starch mix to the pepper mix.  Bring up to simmer/  Simmer until sugar is dissolved and corn starch is cooked, and sauce is thickened.
 
Put in wide mouth bottles or canning jars. 
 
I wonder if the Mae Ploy recipe uses pickled peppers for convenience.  They can probably get huge cans of pickled peppers instead of dealing with fresh peppers or dried peppers.  Just a thought.
 
Hope this helps~
SL
 
 
 
 
 
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Why would you make it when it's so bloody cheap? If you want it hotter, add Cayenne or other super-hot powder or better yet, PURE EVIL. (PE won't change the flavor but will definitely kick it up a notch or seven).
My ¢2.5~

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Sweet pickled peppers (no spices) are a common table condiment in Thailand and Malaysia. I would not pickle with spices here. The Mae Ploy sauce mimics the pickled pepper flavor but for food on a stick and dipping. Has garlic as well which could be added at pickling stage but would add at sauce stage myself, because I believe they do not use garlic in the pickling, but who knows. The sauce is common at street food vendors to put on BBQ chicken. They actually use Mae Ploy and not homemade.
 
Here is a pickling method for you:
https://rasamalaysia.com/pickled-chilies/
 
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salsalady said:
I wonder if the Mae Ploy recipe uses pickled peppers for convenience.  They can probably get huge cans of pickled peppers instead of dealing with fresh peppers or dried peppers.  Just a thought.
 
Hope this helps~
SL
Click to expand...
 
Could be but no matter the reason if you change it you change the flavor. But I would say it's because sweet pickled peppers are common on the table so that's the flavor they want in the sauce.
 
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I also see that some sites claim this sauce is made with plum. However it does not appear in the ingredients. That makes me wonder if they pickle the peppers in their own plum sauce since it's rice vinegar, sugar, plum: https://www.myasiangrocer.com.au/mae-ploy-sweet-and-sour-plum-sauce-750ml/
and somehow get away with that listing.
 
Just food for thought best of luck!
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
I also see that some sites claim this sauce is made with plum. However it does not appear in the ingredients. That makes me wonder if they pickle the peppers in their own plum sauce since it's rice vinegar, sugar, plum
Click to expand...
.....$1.96 :rofl:


Joking aside, I didn't meant to unencourage you to make it. There are certain sauces IMO that just can't be duplicated. We have tried and it was good but just not Mae Ploy good. We've tasted friends similar sauces and it still just isn't Mae Ploy. Maybe it's a nostalgic flavor like Twinkies? LMAO

Yoshidas we can make waay better and MUCH hotter, BBQ sauce same thing. But Mae Ploy is sooo flippin good as it is, and cheap, I just prefer to buy it and add my heat to it at home.

Good luck and definitely keep us posted!
 
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And with Mae Ploy you are buying the sauce they actually all use in Thailand. If you look at it the other way around, someone from Thailand visits the US and loves ketchup on fries and finds out it is Heinz. Goes home and tries to replicate, even though it is at their own market. :)
 
You make a good point too SD.
 
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That's a good point too. No one makes their own ketchup. Maybe some do but it's not the same or as good. And it's also cheap!

Weirdly, Heinz and Mae Ploy both have a tricky balance of sugar and Vinegar.
 
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I used the ingredients list from GRAMA'S brand as a start. Hanks had some hippy-shite organic brand that looked like insipid grey crap. Gramas and Mae Ploy have a great look.
 
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----
Regarding...why would anyone try to imitate XYZ....

Sriracha is iconic, loved by millions. But, I really don't like it very much. Now, the fermented red jalapeno batch with garlic that I made last year? THAT was good!!! At least in my opinion. Those that bathe in rooster sauce probably wouldn't like my sauce. Do I care? Not one bit. Am I done talking like Sue Akins? Yes, I am...
for now....
:lol:...


Ps- the ingredients are listed on some labels by percentage. I think it is regulation in other countries. Would make it pretty easy for replicating.


Edit to remove the self-quote. New tablet, still getting used to it.
 
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salsalady said:
----
Regarding...why would anyone try to imitate XYZ....

Sriracha is iconic, loved by millions. But, I really don't like it very much. Now, the fermented red jalapeno batch with garlic that I made last year? THAT was good!!!
Click to expand...
 
He already stated his wife loves Mae Ploy so that negates your argument in his case.
 
However I agree try to make it! It's fun, and why not? Make it hotter! Make it better! Add some Mekong (Thai whiskey)... :D
 
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No I didn't. I mean, huh?

Well, anyway, when the zombie apocalypse comes, at least we can replicate some mae ploy and sriracha.
 
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LOL. You said you made your own type Sriracha because you don't really like it. But his wife loves Mae Play, so scovie's argument still holds true.
 
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Well, I'm the only one who responded to the OP recipe request so :razz: on the rest of you.


I WAS going to share a jar with Scovie and CJ but after that... :nope: and that would of been an even better deal of 12 ounces for $0.
 
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Heh, thanks salsalady, you da reel mvp. 

 
Scoville DeVille said:
Why would you make it when it's so bloody cheap?
Click to expand...
 
FOR SCIENCE.
 
Like, really, that's it.
To see if I can.

I'm also still relatively new to making hot sauces (this will actually be my first non-ferment), so playing around and experimenting is beneficial for me right now. Seeing what works, what doesn't. Overall, getting a feel for different styles.

And as mentioned, there are some things I would perhaps like to change about Mae Ploy's Sweet Chili for personal reasons. A bit more heat - not much - and a bit more garlic.

 
The Hot Pepper said:
Sweet pickled peppers (no spices) are a common table condiment in Thailand and Malaysia. I would not pickle with spices here. The Mae Ploy sauce mimics the pickled pepper flavor but for food on a stick and dipping. Has garlic as well which could be added at pickling stage but would add at sauce stage myself, because I believe they do not use garlic in the pickling, but who knows. The sauce is common at street food vendors to put on BBQ chicken. They actually use Mae Ploy and not homemade.
 
Here is a pickling method for you:
https://rasamalaysia.com/pickled-chilies/
Click to expand...
 
For my choice of pickling, that was basically just me experimenting around. "Hey, I know I'm going to have space in the jar becasue I don't have enough of these peppers. Let's try this." 
I'm also too impatient to do a control-experiment like a rational person with just a very basic pickling recipe, and I know garlic has worked in the past.
I also know if I made a Mae Ploy duplicate with more garlic flavor I'd like it more.
The Hot Pepper said:
Phartman is gonna be like. wtf.....
Click to expand...
 
Phartman
Phartman
PhartMan

*Flashbacks to non-existent childhood name calling trauma*
 
:P

Thanks, guys, this is way more of a response than I was initially expecting. I'll have to mull all this over in two-weeks time and figure out what will work well. All in all I expect I over-roasted the peppers and will have to start from scratch, so that pickling recipe may come in handy.
 
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Never mind, it's back on topic.
 
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