Peel the 6 large garlic cloves and chop them coarsely into rough pieces about the size of a lentil, rather than mincing them fine. Slice or roughly chop the 8 red and 6 green bird's eye chillies, keeping most of the seeds with the flesh for the classic speckled look and full heat. Finely chop the 12g cilantro leaves and tender stems until the pieces are small enough to suspend through a thin sauce instead of clumping together. Thinly slice the 2 extra red chillies for garnish and set them aside with a few small cilantro leaves. If using palm sugar, shave or break the 25g into small crumbs with a knife so it dissolves easily later. That coarse first cut is what gives the garlic its genuinely rustic, visible pieces in the finished sauce.

Place the chopped garlic, the red and green chillies and the 25g sugar in a large mortar. Pound with short, firm strokes for about 1–2 minutes, scraping the sides down once or twice, just until the garlic has broken into small rough pieces and the chillies are bruised, split and releasing their juices. The mixture should look wet, chunky and speckled with seeds, with the sugar already beginning to melt into the chilli and garlic juices — never smooth or pasty. If the palm sugar is still in hard lumps, press them against the side of the mortar with the pestle before going on. Stop as soon as the texture is rough and juicy. That restrained pounding is what releases the garlic and chilli oils while keeping the loose, rustic texture this sauce genuinely depends on.

Transfer the pounded mixture to a bowl if your mortar is small, scraping out every bit of juice. Add the 120ml lime juice, the 120ml fish sauce and the 75ml warm water, then stir for about 1 minute until the sugar has fully dissolved and no grains remain on the bottom. The liquid should look thin, glossy and lightly amber-red, running freely off a spoon rather than coating it. Taste for balance: it should be sharply sour, clearly salty, spicy and only lightly sweet. If it tastes too salty, add a little more lime juice or a small splash of water; if it tastes too sharp, add a little more sugar, a pinch at a time, stirring until dissolved. That warm-water dissolve is what blends the sugar evenly without cooking or dulling the fresh lime.

Finish and Rest

Stir the chopped cilantro through the sauce until it is evenly suspended rather than floating in a clump on top. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes at room temperature so the garlic, chilli and lime flavours meld slightly and the chilli seeds begin to release their heat into the liquid. Just before serving, stir once more, because the solids settle quickly, then spoon or pour the sauce into small dipping bowls. Garnish with the thinly sliced red chillies and the small cilantro leaves, making sure each bowl gets plenty of garlic, chilli and seeds rather than just the liquid from the top. That short rest with the herbs added last is what lets the flavours come together while the cilantro stays genuinely bright green and fresh.