19 Feb The Art of Sambal
Sambal is an indispensable part of all Indonesian cuisine. It is essentially a hot-relish or hot-sauce, with the main ingredient being some sort of chili. No Indonesian meal is complete without sambal.
Indonesians show no discretion when it comes to using this stuff.
They will mix it into eggs, add it to soups, and even dip raw mangos into it for a crazy Asian take on fruit salad. Sambal is a generic term for hot sauce, which means it also features prominently in other cuisines like Malaysian, Singaporean, Dutch, and Sri Lankan.
There are hundreds of varieties of sambal just within Indonesia. Some resemble a paste more than a relish, while others have sweet, fruity notes derived from mangos and kecap manis. Add fermented shrimp paste and you’ll end up with sambal terasi; fried peanuts and you have sambal kacang.
You get the idea: As long as you have a baseline sauce, you can mix and match whichever way you like.
Here are some recipes for you to try at home. They certainly add a kick to any dish and are very easy to make.
Red Chili Sambal :
- Kemiri (candlenut)
- Red onion
- Big Red Chili
- Small Red Chili
- Coriander
- Tomato
- Salt
Put all the ingredients in a blender and then sauté until fragrant.
Sambal Bongkot :
- Bongkot (ginger flower)
- Red onion
- Big Red Chili
- Small Red Chili
- Lemon / Lime
- Salt
Crush all ingredients together and then sauté with a little oil.
Sambal Sereh :
- Lemongrass
- Red onion
- Big Red Chili
- Small Red Chili
- Lemon / Lime
- Salt
Crush all ingredients together and then sauté with a little oil.