Cooking: Sweet Chili Sauce

If you haven't tried Sweet Chili Sauce - sometimes called Thai Sweet Chili Sauce - you don't know what you're missing. This thick, glistening red sauce studded with red chili pepper flakes is the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. And while the recipe and taste can vary between brands, the overall use is the same.

Sweet Chili Sauce can be found either in the Asian section or the sauces section in most supermarkets. Some varieties come in a tall glass bottle whereas others come in a small jar. My preference is the clearer sauces that come in the glass bottles - the taste is cleaner to the palate than the more ketchup-looking sauces.

So, if you've never tried Sweet Chili Sauce, then you're probably wondering what you can use it for. For those who have tried it before, many just use it for what they originally bought it for. And yet Sweet Chili Sauce is a very versatile sauce that can be used for a wide range of things:

• It makes a perfect dipping sauce for dumplings, egg rolls and spring rolls.
• A great sauce to serve with grilled meat, poultry, seafood and vegetables.
• As an ingredient for compound butter.
• It can be used in marinades for chicken and salmon.
• As an ingredient in salad dressings.
• A half cup of sour cream mixed with 2 tablespoons of Sweet Chili Sauce makes a delicious dipping sauce for sweet potato or regular potato wedges. It can also be used as a dip for chips and/or raw vegetables.
• Try replacing the ketchup in your meatloaf with sweet chili sauce for an extra zing.

Sweet Chili Sauce will last up to a year in it's bottle if it is refrigerated.