MAKES: About 1 cup
TIME: 15 minutes
The fresh, bright combination of ginger and scallions is the traditional and perfect accompaniment to Steamed Dumplings, Asian Style. It's also a fabulous addition to soups and, with a bit more oil, a convenient way to start a stir-fry. Finally (well, probably not finally you'll think of other uses), it's terrific on top of plain, thin, Chinese-style egg noodles (see Dumpling Wrappers with Egg).
If chopping and mincing isn't your thing, just throw a big chunk of peeled ginger and three or four scallions into the food processor, along with the garlic, and pulse until finely chopped but do not pure.
1/4 cup peeled and minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped scallion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 cup peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
Mix the ginger, scallion, garlic, and salt together thoroughly in a heatproof bowl.
Put the oil in a small saucepan or skillet over high heat until smoking. Carefully pour the oil over the ginger-scallion mixture, mix well, and serve or store, refrigerated, for up to 3 days (bring back to room temperature before serving).
Variations
Garlic-Scallion Sauce. Less complex but more powerful: Increase the garlic to 1/4 cup and omit the ginger.
Chile-Scallion Sauce. A little heat: Add 3 tablespoons (or to taste) of your favorite finely chopped fresh chile (see the chart Everyday Fresh Chiles). Increase the garlic to 2 large cloves and reduce the ginger to 1 tablespoon or omit it entirely.
