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Zhug is a fresh, bright Middle Eastern hot sauce akin to chimichurri, chermoula, and salsa verde.
By
J. Kenji López-Alt
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/kenji-lopez-alt-9e7ff3ba54e24328a853d774a05fd4b8.jpg "Zhug (Yemenite Hot Sauce With Cilantro and Parsley) Recipe (1)")
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process
Updated October 13, 2022
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Why It Works
- Pounding the herbs and aromatics with a mortar and pestle draws out intense flavor from them.
- Drizzling in olive oil while pounding creates an emulsion that ensures the sauce won't taste greasy or bland.
When I wrote about my recipe forphat phrik khing, I tried my absolute darnedest to convince you that a good mortar and pestle belongs in the arsenal of any home cook (and Daniel's done the same in hisguide to the best mortars and pestles). This tool will actually extract more flavor from herbs and spices than a food processor or blender ever can, producing chile paste that's more aromatic, spoonful for spoonful. I'm going to try to convince you once again today withzhug(also spelled "s'chug" or "s'rug"), a Yemenite hot sauce flavored with coriander (cilantro) seeds and leaves, cardamom, cumin, parsley, and plenty of heat from chile peppers.
The sauce is actually quite similar to a South Americanchimichurri, North Africanchermoula, Spanish- or Italian-stylesalsa verde, or even a goodpesto. In other words, it's an herb-packed sauce that's pounded or roughly puréed and emulsified with plenty of olive oil.
I love it when you find recipes that so closely resemble each other from all corners of the globe. It means that you can instantly travel from one region to the next, with only minimal changes in ingredients and process.
As with all other pound-fresh-ingredients-until-they-drop recipes, I found that, as promising as a high-powered mechanized solution looks, the real key to the best-tasting zhug is taking the food processor out of the equation and pounding your ingredients with a mortar and pestle.
I start with kosher salt (which mainly acts as an abrasive to improve grinding) and spices: cumin and coriander seeds, along with some black pepper and the interior seeds of a couple of cardamom pods. Grinding these is quick work with a mortar and pestle; you need to use a series of firm, circular motions. Next, I add garlic cloves and Thai bird chiles—I prefer their intense heat and fresh flavor to the more bitter, grassy flavor of the jalapeños that many recipes call for. I crush them all into a rough paste, using a pounding and twisting motion. The mortar and pestle does require a bit of elbow grease, but the results are just so much better than what you get out of the food processor.
Once the garlic and spices are broken down, I add my leaves half a handful at a time, working the cilantro and parsley into a rough, pulpy paste. Finally, I drizzle in extra-virgin olive oil, smashing and grinding the entire time so that the olive oil gets emulsified into the sauce, while also picking up flavors from the herbs, chiles, garlic, and spices.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2016__03__20160329-schug-yemenite-hot-sauce-falafel-recipe-09-dbaa54e6de0549f9924d83d4da799d06.jpg "Zhug (Yemenite Hot Sauce With Cilantro and Parsley) Recipe (3)")
The final sauce is fresh and bright from the herbs, while also having an intensely spicy kick to it. It's the ideal accompaniment forfalafelorsabichsandwiches, but it also goes great with a variety of grilled vegetables, fish, meat, and eggs. It should last up to a week in the fridge (though I've never had a jar linger uneaten for long enough to actually find out).
March 2016
Recipe Details
Zhug (Yemenite Hot Sauce With Cilantro and Parsley) Recipe
Prep10 mins
Active10 mins
Total10 mins
Serves8 servings
Makes1 cup
Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon wholecoriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon wholecumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon freshlyground black pepper
3 green cardamom pods, small internal seeds only, toasted (optional)
4 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 to 6 fresh Thai bird chiles, red or green (to taste), roughly chopped; or 4 driedchiles de árbol, stemmed, seeded, and torn into fine pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 ounces fresh parsley and cilantro leaves and fine stems (about 2 loosely packed cups of mixed herbs)
1/2 cup (120ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
Combine coriander seeds, cumin, black pepper, and cardamom seeds (if using) in a mortar and pestle and grind into a powder using a firm, circular motion. Add garlic, chiles, and salt and pound into a rough paste. Add cilantro and parsley one small handful at a time and continue pounding into a rough paste. (By the time you're done, there should be no pieces of chiles or herbs larger than 1/8 inch remaining.) Pounding constantly, slowly drizzle in olive oil to form an emulsion. Season to taste with more salt. Zhug can be served immediately or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__recipes__20160329-schug-yemenite-hot-sauce-falafel-recipe-02-composite-82641c826b53467799110ae2b2ff1a82.jpg "Zhug (Yemenite Hot Sauce With Cilantro and Parsley) Recipe (4)")
Special Equipment
Mortar and pestle
Read More
- Easy, Herb-Packed Falafel
- Sabich Sandwiches (Pitas With Eggplant, Eggs, Hummus, and Tahini)
- Falafel With Black Olives and Harissa
- Chimichurri Sauce
- Chermoula
- Italian Salsa Verde With Parsley and Capers
- Middle Eastern
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Chile Pepper
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 130 | Calories |
| 14g | Fat |
| 2g | Carbs |
| 0g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 8 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 130 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 14g | 18% |
| Saturated Fat 2g | 10% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 162mg | 7% |
| Total Carbohydrate 2g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber 1g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 0g | |
| Protein 0g | |
| Vitamin C 10mg | 52% |
| Calcium 20mg | 2% |
| Iron 1mg | 4% |
| Potassium 66mg | 1% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
