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:''For the Indian dish, see Sambar (dish). For the ethnic group, see Sambal people. For the language, see Sambal language. For jeruk sambal, see Kaffir lime.''

'Sambal' is a condiment used in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, as well as the Netherlands, made from a variety of peppers, although chilli peppers are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment or as a side dish, and is sometimes substituted for fresh chillis; it can be very hot for the uninitiated. It is available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in numerous countries.

Contents

Ingredients

Variants

Recipes

See also

Ingredients

The most common kinds of peppers used in Sambal are:

★ Adyuma - also known as habanero. These are usually yellow and blocky (like a miniature paprika). Very hot.

★ Cayenne pepper - These are usually red and blocky (see above). There are, however a number of similar looking peppers which are much milder. These can be recognized by their shiny appearance.

★ Madame Jeanette - Yellow or light green elongated kind of pepper. They have a bit of an irregular shape.

★ Cabe Rawit (bird's eye chilli) - Elongated and tiny. These are red or green and very hot. ''Cabe'' is pronounced as "chabeh".

★ Spanish peppers (chilli peppers) or ''lombok'' (Javanese) - These are elongated and have a red or green colour. These are relatively mild, the green ones being milder than the red ones.

★ Naga jolokia - sometimes it called ''cabe taliwang''. It is very strong at 800,000 on the Scoville scale), which is ten times hotter than ''cabe rawit'' (Thai pepper)

Variants

Sambal is thicker and richer tasting than Mexican salsa. It ranges in spiciness. There are a number of varieties which are popular in Indonesia, including:
;Sambal Asam: This is similar to Sambal Trassi with an addition of tamarind (asam) concentrate. 'Asam' means sour in the Malay language.

;Sambal Bajak: Chilli (or another kind of red pepper) fried with oil, garlic, trassi, candlenuts and other condiments (darker, richer in flavor).
;Sambal Balado: Minangkabau style Sambal. Chilli sauteed with oil, garlic, onion, tomato, salt and lemon or lime juice.
;Sambal Belacan: A Malay style sambal. Chilli is pounded together with toasted Shrimp paste(belacan) in a stone mortar. Tomatoes are optional ingredients. Sometimes, sweet sour mangoes or equivalent local fruits are added. Salt, sugar and lime juice are the last items added. Eaten with cucumbers or 'ulam'(leafy herbs) in a meal of rice and other dishes. A Malaysian-Chinese version is to fry belacan with chilli.
;Sambal Tumis: Chilli fried with belacan shrimp paste, onions, garlic, tamarind juice. ''Tumis'' means "to fry" till an aroma comes out. It may be mixed with other ingredients to produce dishes such as ''sambal kangkong'', ''sambal sotong'' (squid) and ''sambal telur'' (egg).
;Sambal Kemiri: This is similar to Sambal Trassi with an addition of candlenuts.
;Sambal Manis: Chilli, onions and sugar it has a chiefly sweet taste, as said by the Malay word 'manis' which means 'sweet'.
;Sambal Trassi: Modern Indonesian is "Terasi"; it is the same as Malaysian Belacan. Red and green peppers, trassi, sugar, salt, lemon or lime juice (tangy, strong). One version omit the lime juice and has the sambal fried with pounded tomatoes.
;Sambal Udang: Chilli fried with oil, garlic and shrimps.

;Sambal Ulek (Oelek) : Chilli (bright red, thin and sharp tasting). Some types of this variant call for the addition of salt or lime into the red mixture. Oelek is a Dutch spelling which in modern Indonesian spelling has became simply Ulek; both have the same pronunciation. Ulek is Indonesian special stoneware derived from prehistoric household kitchenware that is still being used actively in most Indonesian kitchens, particularly in Java. It is a stone pestle (called ulekan) with a mortar (ulek-ulek) made from an old and matured bamboo root, that is used for crushing chillies, peppers, shallots, peanuts, and other kinds of ingredients.
;Sambal Jeruk: Green pepper with lemon. (colourless, adds taste). In Malaysia, it is called cili (chilli) jeruk. However, the lime is substituted with vinegar and sugar. Used as a condiment with fried rice and noodle based dishes.
;Sambal Setan: A very hot sambal with Madame Jeanette peppers (red brownish, very sharp). The name literally means "Devil's Sauce".
;Sambal Pedas Pedas: Extremely spicy sambal, with the Malay word 'pedas' for spicy, being used twice.
;Sambal Taliwang: This variant is native from Taliwang, a village near Mataram, Lombok Island. Made from naga jolokia pepper grown specially in Lombok, garlic and Lombok shrimp paste. A kilogram of naga jolokia pepper is extracted, ground and pressed . This is mixed with ground garlic and shrimp paste, then cooked with vegetable oil.

Recipes

★ Sambal Belacan Recipe from Rose's Kitchenette

See also

★ Indonesian cuisine

★ Cuisine of Malaysia

★ Cuisine of Singapore