Chili paste

PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: n/a
BLEND TIME: 2-3 minutes
TOTAL TIME: Less than 15
 
Ingredients
20 fresh red Thai chilis (approx 5” in length) (133 g)
3 cloves (18 g) garlic, skinned
1 stalk of lemongrass
2 oz white vinegar
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 ½” wide x 1 ½” long strips of lime zest
1 teaspoon salt
 
Method

1. Prep the chilis. Trim off the head/stem of the chilis and half the chilis lengthwise. Using the back of your knife, scrape the seeds and veins from each chili, and discard the innards.  (No need to get every seed and vein out - just most of them so that the heat of the final paste is spicy, but not so hot you lose the flavor.
2. Prep the lemongrass. Trim 4cm off the hard end of the stalk and peel away the tough outer leaves. Trim off the top end of what remains so that you’re left with a tender, pale yellow stalk that’s about 4”-5” in length. Slice the lemongrass bulb in quarters.
3. Add the prepared chilis, garlic cloves, lemongrass, and all remaining ingredients into your KitchenAid® 400 blender. Starting on speed 1, blend for 20 seconds. Then, increase the speed to 2, then 3, then 4, blending for 20 seconds at each speed increment. Stop the blender, scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula, then blend on speed 5 for 45-60 seconds, or until no thick pieces of chili skins remain, and paste is thickened. (You may have to scrape down the sides of the blender one more time during the final blend - and, be sure to scrape out the lid, too.)
4. Store the finished chili paste in an airtight container.

 
Chef's note
The more seeds and veins you leave in the chilis, the hotter this paste will be.
 
There are hundreds of varieties of chilis. This recipe calls for red Thai chilis that are roughly 10cm in length and 1cm in diameter. If the chilis you’re using are different in size than what is described, then go by specific weight of the chilis so you end up with a comparable consistency and flavor.