schug

Schug. S’chug. Skhug. Zhoug. Regardless of spelling, they all refer to the same Yeminite condiment – a fresh, herby, spicy sauce made primarily from green chiles and cilantro. And it’s pronounced s-hard h- oog. The ingredients are piled into a small food processor if you have one (no need to drag out the heavy one) and pulsed their way to a fiery sauce that you’ll put on everything.

Treat schug like any other herby topping – gremolatta, chimichurri, salsa verde – and add it to dishes for some herby brightness and, at least in schug’s case, a jolt. Spoon over steak. Add to scrambled eggs. Stir into soup. Shake with oil, lemon juice, and a generous pinch of salt for salad. Spread on pizza. Seriously, anything.

S’chug

Just barely adapted from Adeena Sussman’s recipe in Sababa. Ironically, she calls hers “cardamom-kissed” and that’s exactly the spice that I exclude since I find it too bitter. This makes a big batch, so I freeze part of it in ice cube trays and pull out a cube or two to drop into soup or just thaw in the fridge for adding to everything. The bright green schug will darken over time, though lemon juice and oil helps slow down that process.

Makes 1 1/2 cups

– 1 C tightly packed fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems
– 1 C tightly packed fresh parsley, leaves and tender stems
– 10 garlic cloves
– 3 large jalapeños, stemmed and coarsely chopped with seeds
– 1 t kosher salt
– 1 t ground cumin
– 1 t freshly ground black pepper
– 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
– 2 t extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to cover

Process. In the bowl of a small food processor, combine the herbs, garlic, jalapeños, salt, cumin, pepper, and lemon juice and pulse 15-20 times, then process until smooth, about 1 minute. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time if the ingredients are initially too dry to let the food processor do its thing. Periodically stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. The mixture will start out pulpy but will quickly come together into more of a paste. Drizzle in the olive oil and pulse very briefly.

Store. Transfer the schug into a jar or two and cover with a very thin slick of olive oil. Stored in the refrigerator, schug lasts up to a month.