If you love herb-based sauces like pesto and you crave heat, you will love this fiery wonderfulness from Yemen known as Zhug!
Zhug, schug, zhoug, skhug, zhugg, shug... So many spellings, so little time! But no matter how you spell it, if you like foods described with words like spicy, herb-y, and lemon-y, then you will love zhug!
Zhug has so many uses:
- Serve it over steamed, roasted, or fried vegetables as a side dish. Think zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, thinly sliced eggplant drizzled with pomegranate molasses, vegan yogurt and sprinkled with Za'atar Seasoning Mix.
- Slather it over baked or fried cauliflower or Romanesco steaks, portobellos, pan-seared slabs of tofu.
- Use it in a burrito for a North African twist or as a spread on a veggie burger or as a sandwich spread.
- Experiment using zhug in places where you would use pesto, such as a pasta sauce, over polenta, or with gnocchi.
- Add it into a pasta or potato salad, or use it as a dressing for a green salad.
- Drizzle it over a soup.
- Use it for an appetizer or hor's d'ouvres, spreading it over crostini or crackers.
- Thin the zhug out some with more lemon juice or olive oil and swirl it into hummus or baba ghanoush.
I am sure you will find Zhug will finds its way into surprising places in your cooking! Enjoy!
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Ingredients
- Italian Parsley
- Cilantro
- Jalapeños
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Cardamom
- Freshly ground pepper
- Lemon juice and zest
- Olive Oil
See recipe card for quantities.
The Italian Parsley gives a nutty, herby flavor that combines nicely with the cilantro.
Zhug is a hot sauce, so the heat needs to come from somewhere! I used jalapeños this time because we had guests so I didn't want to go too far with the heat.
Cumin gives a warm, earthy flavor with a touch of bitterness.
Coriander is a spice that needs to be used more. Try it in oatmeal cookies! It also gives a warm flavor with a bit of spice and floral tones.
Cardamom will give the zhug a deeper, more complex flavor.
The lemon ingredients give an acidic brightness to the zhug against the other flavors.
The olive oil gives the sauce a pourable texture and a fruity taste.
Instructions
Step 1: If toasting your spices, put cumin and coriander spices into a pan. Place pan over a medium heat.
Step 2: Toast the spices until a few shades darker, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: If using whole spices, place the them into a spice grinder. You can also use a mortar and pestle.
Step 4: Grind the spices.
Step 5: Place the chilis and garlic into the bowl of a food processor.
Step 6: Pulse the chilis and garlic.
Step 7: Add the rest of the ingredients except the oil to the bowl of the food processor.
Step 8: Run the processor until the contents are very finely chopped.
Step 9: Keep the food processor running and slowly drizzle in the oil.
Let sit for an hour or more to let the flavors meld.
Enjoy!
Substitutions
A lot of folks find that cilantro tastes like soap. Just leave the cilantro out and replace with more Italian parsley.
Don't like spicy? Leave the peppers out or replace them with bell peppers to at least get that pepper vibe the jalapeños were giving.
I have not tried this, but if you need oil-free, perhaps try aquafaba as a replacement for the oil. If you do, let me know down in the comments below.
Variations
Experiment with the ratio of parsley to cilantro. Add in some mint, keeping the total amount of herbs to 4 cups.
Increase the amount of heat. I made this with the two jalapeños because we had guests over who are not huge heat fans. I have made this with 6 chilis. Also consider using other types of chilis like serrano and habanero. Often Bird's Eye chilis are used in Yemen. You can even use powdered Bird's Eye along with fresh chilis as the fresh chilis give a nice, fresh flavor.
Use other spices, such as
- Urfa biber
- Aleppo Pepper
- Smoked Paprika
- Saffron
Equipment
- A small skillet, if you are going to toast your spices
- A small spice grinder, or mortar and pestle, if using whole spices
- A knife for cutting the chilis
- A food processor, or you can use the mortar and pestle
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Zhug will stay good for about a week, though its bright color will fade some.
Zhug will freeze quite well and last a couple of months. Freeze it in an ice tray and, after it is frozen, transfer the zhug cubes into an airtight container and place back in the freezer.
Top Tip
It at all possible, toast the whole spices. It really makes a difference in the flavor.
Related
Looking for other sauce recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Zhug:
Recipe
Zhug
Equipment
- 1 Skillet small, if toasting spices
- 1 silicon spatula if toasting spices
- 1 spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) if using whole spices
- 1 knife for chopping peppers
- 1 food processor or you can use a mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin whole seeds, or can use ground
- 1 tablespoon coriander whole seeds, or can use ground
- 2 large jalapeños
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cups Italian parsley
- 2 cups cilantro
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest optional
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- ½ cup olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- If toasting whole spices, heat up a small skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add in the cumin and coriander seeds. Toast until they turn a few shades darker and start popping, about 5 minutes. Do not let them burn, they will turn bitter.
- If using whole spices, either grind them in a spice grinder or crush them with a mortar and pestle.
- Roughly chop the jalapeños and garlic and place in food processor and run it until they are finely chopped. You can also crush them in a mortar and pestle.
- If using a food processor, add the rest of the ingredients to the processor and run until you have a paste. If using a mortar and pestle, grind the herbs in a circular motion in small batches until you have a paste.
- If using a food processor, turn it on, Drizzle in the oil. If using a mortar and pestle, drizzle the oil into the mortar while you continue to grind in a circular motion.
- Let sit for at least an hour to let the flavors meld together.
- Enjoy!
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