Boo Jah (crab Cakes with Cilantro Pesto)

Prepare the Sweet-Hot garlic sauce and pour into a small serving bowl. Let cool to room temperature. In a medium bowl, gently combine the crabmeat, pork, pesto, egg, fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Mix well, leaving the crabmeat in large chunks if possible. Put the flour on a plate and set this by the stove. Carefully shape the crab-pork mixture into small cakes. Dip each cake in the flour to coat it lightly. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the crab cakes and saute, turning once, until golden brown and cooked, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the cilantro and chili. Serve at once wth the dipping sauce. Try a simple dipping sauce of 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 tablesopons freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh hot chili. Stir to dissolve sugar and serve. Sweet-Hot garlic sauce 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup white vinegar 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon chile-garlic sauce (tuong or toi sauce) In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the liquid reduces slightly and thickens to a light syrup, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chile-garlic sauce. Cool. Cilantro pesto 1 teaspoon whole white or black peppercorns 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro roots or leaves and stems 2 tablespoons coarsley chopped garli Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, crush or grind the peppercorns to a fine powder. Combine the pepper, cilantro roots, and garlic and work the 3 ingredients into a fairly smooth paste in the mortar or in a small blender or food processor. If you use a blender or food processor, you may need to add a little oil or water to ease the grinding.