Sous-Vide Thai Quinoa and Tomato Sauce

This recipe uses the precise, gentle heat of sous-vide to create a deeply flavorful and uniquely textured Thai-inspired sauce. The quinoa is the star, becoming perfectly tender while absorbing the complex aromatics of tomato, shallot, and toasted spices without any risk of scorching. The long, slow infusion results in a complex, savory sauce with a satisfying body that traditional stovetop methods cannot easily replicate.

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 2 hours Servings: Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients

• Uncooked quinoa, any color
• Shallots
• Garlic cloves
• Galangal or fresh ginger
• Sun-dried tomatoes, dry-packed
• Tomato paste
• Ground coriander
• Ground cumin
• Ground white pepper
• Dried red chili flakes
• Full-fat coconut milk
• Vegetable stock
• Tamarind paste
• Soy sauce or tamari
• Palm sugar or light brown sugar
• Neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
• Additional garlic cloves, for finishing oil

Instructions

1. Set your sous-vide water bath to 194°F (90°C).
2. Thoroughly rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve under cold running water.
3. Combine the shallots, garlic, galangal, sun-dried tomatoes, and tomato paste in a blender.
4. Add the ground coriander, cumin, white pepper, and red chili flakes to the blender and process into a thick, relatively smooth paste.
5. In a large, heat-safe sous-vide bag, combine the rinsed quinoa, the aromatic paste, coconut milk, vegetable stock, tamarind paste, soy sauce, and palm sugar.
6. Gently massage the bag to distribute the ingredients, then seal it using a vacuum sealer or the water-displacement method.
7. Submerge the sealed bag in the preheated water bath and cook for 2 hours.
8. Just before the sauce is finished, prepare the garlic oil by gently frying thinly sliced garlic in a small saucepan with neutral oil over low heat until golden brown and fragrant, then strain and reserve both the crisps and the oil.
9. Carefully remove the bag from the water bath, cut it open, and pour the finished sauce into a serving bowl.

Notes

The high cooking temperature of 194°F (90°C) is essential for fully cooking the quinoa grains and breaking down their starches, which gives the sauce its signature body. For a slightly smoother texture, you can transfer half of the sauce to a blender and pulse it a few times before stirring it back into the rest.

The fried garlic oil, known as gratiem jiaw in Thai, is a critical finishing element. Its pungent, savory flavor and the crisp texture of the garlic chips provide a crucial counterpoint to the rich, creamy sauce. This sauce is excellent spooned over pan-seared firm tofu and steamed greens like bok choy, or used as a base for a hearty noodle dish with rice vermicelli.