1/2 cup rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons. white sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sherry (or cooking sherry)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 tablespoon dried crushed chili (1 tablespoon makes spicy-hot sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 to 4 tablespoons cool water
Place all ingredients - except the cornstarch-water mixture - in a saucepan or pot. Bring to a rolling boil.
Reduce heat to medium and let boil for 10 minutes, or until reduced by half. (Note that the vinegar will be quite pungent as it burns off--rice vinegar is less strong than regular white vinegar.)
Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch-water mixture. Stir to incorporate and continue stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and taste-test. You should taste sweet first, followed by sour, then spicy and salty notes. If the sauce isn't sweet enough, add a little more sugar. If it's not spicy enough, add more chili.
Pour sauce into a small bowl or jar and serve as a condiment, dip, or marinade.
https://www.thespruce.com/thai-sweet-chili-sauce-3217301
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 hot red peppers (jalapeno, serrano, thai, cayenne, etc.)
1⁄2 cup sugar
3⁄4 cup water
1⁄4 cup vinegar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
Keeping the seeds makes for a hotter end product, removing less so. Keep in mind it will be hotter the first day and dissipates over time. Resist the urge to taste and redip your spoon. Enzymes in saliva breaks down starches and will eventually make it watery -- that is in my humble opinion.
In a food processor blend together the garlic, red peppers, sugar, water, vinegar and salt into a puree; transfer to a sauce pan.
Bring mixture to a boil and simmer until the mixture begins to thicken and garlic and peppers bits slightly soften, about 3 minutes.
Combine cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Whisk into the sugar/pepper mixture. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Cool completely before storing in refrigerator.
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/thai-sweet-chili-sauce-457035