5 Uniquely Southeast Asian Sauces

Southeast Asian cuisines are defined by their bold, robust flavours, and sauces are among the core ingredients that provide their signature tastes. Used in a magnificent variety of dishes, including stir-fries, stews, barbecues, soups, braised delights, etc. Some are also enjoyed as dipping sauces on their own.

Soy sauce and fish sauce are perhaps the most ubiquitous across Southeast Asia. However, every cuisine also has their own sauces that are unique to their people’s palate.

Here are 5 iconic Southeast Asian sauces to enrich your cooking!

Thai Sriracha Sauce

The Thai Sriracha hot sauce is more than just chilli, but blended with sugar, garlic and distilled vinegar for that distinctive Thai spicy-sweet and tangy tone. Sriracha sauce can instantly zest up your dish, and makes a bold dipping sauce. Thai cooks use it to flavour seafood dishes, omelettes, stir-fries, barbecue marinades and more. Siracha sauce has also gained much popularity beyond Thailand and is now savoured around the world! Come check out the awesome yummies you can make with it!

Filipino Banana Sauce

Banana sauce is the ketchup of the Philippines, made from a combo of banana, sugar, vinegar and local spices. Thick and viscous with a sweet fruity, tarty taste. Like ketchup, banana sauce is a universal condiment in Filipino cuisine, as well as a flavour ingredient for deep-fried prawn fritters, barbecue marinades and Filipino mussels omelette.

Indonesian Sambal

Indonesian spiciness is practically defined by the Sambal. Every taste of the vibrant red sauce is a blast of chilli zest with a complex savoury, tangy boldness. The basic Sambal Oeleck is mashed chilli with salt and lime juice. But there’s an incredible range of Sambal-s across the Indonesian archipelago. Come check out the top 5 favourite Sambal variants here. Besides a condiment for pretty much any Indonesian dish, Sambal is also the absolute must-have to get that authentic spicy flavour!

Indonesian Peanut Sauce

Nutty and savoury with a piquant tinge, the Kuah Kacang or peanut sauce is the perfect dipping sauce for barbecued satay skewers, and this toasted stuffed tofu special. But that’s not all this unique sauce can yummify! It’s also the taste-booster for Indonesian Gado-Gado salad and stir-fried meats!

Indonesian Kecap Manis

Kecap Manis or Indonesian sweet soy sauce is thicker and darker than regular soy sauce, with a savoury sweet and caramel-like taste due to the coconut sugar in ABC’s Sweet Soy Sauce. Next to Sambal, Kecap Manis is the must-have ingredient for Indonesian cooking, its rich, bold flavour practically synonymous with the cuisine, used in all kinds of meaty dishes like Indonesian Braised Chicken Stew (Semur Ayam), as a delicious sauce with deep fried tofu, or you can also enjoy it as a condiment on its own! Come explore all the delish goodies you can make with Kecap Manis!

Make it authentic with ABC Sweet Soy Sauce

ABC Kecap Manis is made from high quality soybeans, naturally sweetened with sun-dried coconut sugar for that authentic Indonesian sweet-savoury aroma and flavour. Just a splash is enough to enrich your cooking! Available at supermarkets near you.