Tomato chilli jam

I once again used Peter Gordon's Flavourings chapter in The Cook's Book to make a Tomato Chilli Jam, that I served with a sliver of goats cheese on baguette as well as a dip for some potato skins.

• Ripe tomatoes - 500g
• Fresh ginger, roughly chopped - 2 thumbs
• Nam pla (fish sauce) - 3tbsp
• Red chillies (serrano), finely sliced - 4
• Garlic cloves, finely sliced - 4
• Caster sugar - 300g
• Red wine / cider vinegar - 100ml

Put half the tomatoes, the ginger and the fish sauce in the blender and whizz until smooth.  Don't be tempted to remove the tomato seeds, they provide the pectin to make the jam set.  Following Peter's recommendation in the book, I didn't bother to peel the tomatoes either.  Chop the remaining tomatoes into a fine dice.

Combine all the ingredients (purée, chopped tomatoes, garlic, sugar and vinegar) in a pot and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.  Skim off any foam that rises to the top and simmer for about 30-40 minutes or until the mixture gets glossy and thick.  Don't forget to regularly stir the pot to ensure nothing gets stuck to the bottom and the jam is evenly cooked.  That's it, all done.  My only criticism of Peter's recipe was that I think there is too much fish sauce.  It's great for that little kick, but for me, the flavour was too strong.  Anyway, you can experiment for yourself.

Comments

[Dennis Hartoch]

As I'm a vegeterian,could you please advise me what to use instead
of fish oil,for the tomato/chlli jam recipe.

Thank you,
Dennis.

[Silverbrow]

Dennis, that's a bit of a toughy. As I'm sure you're aware fish sauce has a very pungent aroma - some find it quite off putting.

I wasn't too sure what to suggest so did a bit of digging on the internet. One recommendation I found was for simply swapping the fish sauce with light soy sauce. A closer taste match might be to make your own fish sauce. I guess to make it worthwhile you probably want to make this in large quantities.

I'd be interested to hear how it turns out.