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Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce)

1 August, 2016 by Tara 6 Comments

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A recipe for Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce)! Charred tomatoes, chilies, and onions are mashed into a sauce, then flavored with lime, fish sauce, and cilantro for a delicious accompaniment to meat and vegetables.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce) in a small glass bowl next to pork skewers, rice, and red chilies.

Jeow is a type of dipping sauce from Laos made with charred vegetables. There are a few different varieties depending on the region including Jeow Bong (Sweet Chili), Jeow Mak Kua (Eggplant), Jeow Mak Pet Dib (Green Chili), Jeow Padaek (Fermented Fish), and Jeow Pahang (Dried Fish).

This Jeow Mak Len, Tomato Dipping Sauce, is perfect for summer. Tomatoes, chilies, and onions are grilled until starting to blister and char, then mashed with a mortar and pestle into a sauce. It is seasoned with lime, fish sauce, and cilantro. I served the sauce with grilled pork and sticky rice (Khao Niew). It is also great with steamed or raw vegetables or steamed meat.

Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce)

Aerial view of Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce) in a small glass bowl next to two pork skewers, lime wedges, red chilies, and steamed rice.

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can also use a blender or food processor and pulse the ingredients into a chunky sauce.

Recipes seem to vary over whether to char the garlic cloves or not. I decided to leave them raw, but add them to the grill/baking sheet if desired. Cherry tomatoes are also often used to make this dip- use about 15 in place of the medium tomatoes. Arrange them on skewers for easy handling on the grill. While grilling, the onions and chilies will char before the tomatoes. Remove them as they finish to allow the remaining vegetables to char.

Two bird’s eye chilies will give this dip a spicy kick. Decrease to 1 for less heat or even bump it up to 3 for extra spice. Removing the seeds will also help decrease the heat level. These small chilies pack quite the punch. On the Scoville scale, bird’s eye chilies land between the cayenne and habanero. They can be found in the produce section of markets with Southeast Asian ingredients. Take care when working with the chilies. If needed, wear gloves to keep yourself from accidentally transferring the oil to your eyes or mouth after handling.

Fish sauce (nam pa, nam pla, nuoc mam, patis) is a condiment popular in Southeast Asian cooking. It is created by slowly fermenting fish (generally anchovies) in a salt water mixture, then pressing to produce a thin liquid. It has quite the strong smell, but provides a savory umami flavor. Brands from different countries will vary a bit in taste and quality. Fish sauce is available in most Southeast Asian markets and even some larger grocery stores. Be sure to check the ingredient list first. The good ones should only contain anchovies, salt, and water.

Jeow is generally served with sticky rice/Khao Niew, a sweet glutinous rice (sweet rice, waxy rice). It has a low amylose and high amylopectin content that gives the rice a sticky, chewy texture. The word glutinous refers to the glue-like quality of the rice, but there is actually no gluten present. Khao Niew is prepared a bit differently compared to other types of rice and needs to be soaked for a couple of hours before steaming. It is available in the international/rice section of some larger grocery stores and Asian Food Markets. You can also find it on Amazon: Thai Sticky Rice (Sweet Rice) 5 Lbs.

Looking for more tomato-based sauces?

Try my

  • Roasted Tomto, Almond, and Tahini Dip
  • Šalša (Croatian Tomato Sauce)
  • Tomato Choka (Trinidadian Roasted Tomatoes)

Close up of Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce) in a small glass bowl topped with cilantro and sliced green onions.

Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce) Recipe

Adapted from Southeast Market

Print Pin

Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce)

A recipe for Jeow Mak Len (Lao Tomato Dipping Sauce)! Charred tomatoes, chilies, and onions are mashed into a sauce, then flavored with lime, fish sauce, and cilantro for a delicious accompaniment to meat and vegetables.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Lao
Keyword chili, Lao, Laos, sauce, tomato
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 3 -4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 2 shallots peeled
  • 2 red bird's eye chilies
  • 3 green onions divided
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Instructions

  • Arrange the tomatoes, shallots, chilies, and two of the green onions over a grill pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook, turning occasionally, on a heated grill or under a broiler until blistered and charred on all sides (but not completely burnt). Remove the green onions, chilies, and shallots if they become charred before the tomatoes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
  • Using a large mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves into a paste.  Remove the stems (and seeds for less heat) from the chilies, chop, and add to the garlic. Chop the shallots and charred green onions, then mash with the garlic and chilies. Roughly chop, and mash the tomatoes with the rest of the vegetables to form a chunky sauce. Mix in the lime juice, fish sauce, and cilantro. Adjust seasonings to taste.
  • Thinly slice the remaining green onion and sprinkle over the sauce for garnish. Serve with sticky rice, grilled meat, and vegetables.
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Filed Under: Appetizers/Snacks, Asian Tagged With: appetizer, asia, asian, chili, dipping sauce, fish sauce, grill, lao, laos, tomato

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lauren @ Sew You Think You Can Cook

    1 August, 2016 at 1:35 am

    Reminds me of salsa

    Reply
  2. Yigit - Swanky Recipes

    1 August, 2016 at 10:22 am

    i love to do turkish kebab at weekend for my friends. This sauce gonna be awesome idea for it. Thank you so much

    Reply
  3. Lucy

    1 August, 2016 at 11:29 am

    Yum! I’ve never heard of jeow mak len lao, but it sounds incredibly flavorful and delicious. I love anything with fish sauce–it’s so funky and addictive.

    Reply
  4. Sarah @ Champagne Tastes

    1 August, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Nice- I’m always looking for more ways to use my summer veggies!! Sounds delicious

    Reply
  5. Megan Marlowe

    1 August, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    This looks absolutely delicious!I love all the charred veggies in here!

    Reply
  6. Molly Kumar

    1 August, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I absolutely love Tomato Dips/Chutneys and I’m always looking for new recipes. Your Tomato Dipping Sauce recipe sounds so yum and I can think of so many snack recipes that would go with it. Bookmarking to make in future.

    Reply

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