A 5-minute spicy tamarind glaze for easy grilling on summer days
use it for animal or vegetable, you can't go wrong
Tamarind was the “it” ingredient about eight years ago. Food writers and recipes frequently included it but you couldn’t find quality tamarind at say, Whole Foods. It irked me. Why exalt something that many cooks could not easily source? For that reason, I defaulted to pomegranate molasses in my 2019 cookbook, Vietnamese Food Any Day.
Popularized by chefs such as
, pomegranate molasses climbed out of the realm of Middle Eastern markets onto the shelves of upscale-ish grocers. The sour, slightly bitter, syrupy seasoning was a decent substitute for tamarind. However, in my heart, I knew that pomegranate lacked the fruity, velvety, plush, friendly appeal of tamarind.I patiently waited for people to be willing to explore Asian markets with gusto. Working with Cooking Thai cookbook testers who were more curious than ever, I realized that tamarind’s time has come. There’s momentum for Asian ingredients beyond gochuchang and you’re willing to seek out stuff, whether it’s going to an Asian market or online.
One of my 2025 goals was to nudge you toward experiencing tamarind’s versatility in the kitchen. It’s a workhorse from the Philippines and Vietnam to India and Sri Lanka. It’s used in savories and sweets, from condiments to curries. I always have tamarind around because it’s a fruit with tangy-sweet super powers.
To get the ball rolling for a mini PTFS tamarind fest, I made a foundational batch of Tamarind Liquid because you need to start there before using it in recipes.
To get you all — paid and free subscribers — to befriend tamarind big time, I’m sharing my master tamarind liquid recipe and a bunch of tips in a website article on Tamarind Liquid Basics: Why and how to make your own. You’ll learn to source and make tamarind liquid, or just buy pre-made stuff. As we cook through tamarind-y recipes, you’ll need this precious liquid so have it in your pantry!
Get the tamarind liquid low-down and make a batch of it yourself to keep in the fridge or freezer where it will be happy for months, if not a year!
With the tamarind liquid around, I started dreaming of something fun and easy for you to play with. I concocted a spicy tamarind glaze that takes literally 5 minutes to make. You’re basically stirring, tasting and tweaking. The glaze keeps for several days so you can use it to marinate and season meat, tofu, or vegetables.
This week, I took the glaze for spin to craft a mixed grill of chicken, tofu, summer squash, mushroom, and radicchio. Many of us are flexitarian and some of you are vegan or vegetarians. I thought of all of us for this recipe. You’re welcome!
The chicken and tofu got most of the spicy-tamarind treatment with a little bit of the glaze going onto the radicchio to balance its bitterness. It was an easy summertime meal that got started with a batch of Tamarind Liquid.
So — have I said this enough — start by making tamarind liquid. Then take it for a maiden culinary voyage in the (grilling) outdoors!
For your adventure, below you’ll find 4 recipes and 2 video tips:
Scalable master recipe for the Spicy Tamarind Glaze
Spicy Tamarind Glazed Chicken
Spicy Tamarind Glazed Tofu
A side of grilled veggies (this isn’t a sheet-pan dinner, it’s a grill dinner)
2 video tips to help you (1) make flavorful chicken easier and faster and (2) butcher and grill tofu like a champ
It’s a lot of useful content (as usual) so I encourage you to for it!