Sambal Oelek Recipe – Takes Two Eggs

February 5, 2025

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I’ve perfected my recipe for home made sambal oelek. It’s the good steadiness of spicy, barely candy, fragrant, and deeply savory. This sambal oelek recipe incorporates a mix of pink chili peppers, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, Roma tomatoes, belacan shrimp paste, and different umami seasonings.

One of the best half about this Indonesian sambal recipe is that it may be simply accomplished in below half-hour. This chili sauce is extremely versatile! It may be used to marinate any protein, or add spice to soups, stir-fry rice and noodle dishes, and different condiments.

Lifting up a spoonful of homemade sambal oelek from a bowl.

What’s Sambal Oelek?

Sambal oelek, or sambal ulek, is a spicy Indonesian chili sauce or paste that’s broadly used throughout the complete delicacies. Sambal oelek interprets to “floor chili sauce,” which stems from the standard methodology of grinding with a mortar and pestle to launch the important oils. Sambal is constituted of a wide range of chili peppers and a mixture of shrimp paste, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, sugar, and lime juice.

Sambal chili sauce historically makes use of extremely popular chili peppers similar to cayenne peppers and Thai chicken’s eye chili peppers. This sambal oelek recipe will also be often called sambal belacan because it makes use of belacan, a fermented shrimp paste block.

A bowl of sambal oelek surrounded by ingredients.

Components

You’ll find the entire substances for this sambal oelek recipe at your native Asian grocery retailer. I’ve additionally linked every little thing that I used for you within the recipe card beneath.

Belacan: a Malaysian fermented shrimp paste condiment that’s generally utilized in most Southeast Asian cuisines. It provides a really savory umami and addicting taste. Watch out it is rather smelly!
Vegetable Oil: used to char the greens and to sluggish prepare dinner the sambal chili sauce.
Purple Chili Peppers: for a traditional model use completely Thai chicken’s eye chilis. And for a milder model use de-seeded Korean pink chili peppers, pink serrano peppers, or pink jalapenos. I like to recommend utilizing a range for a extra advanced taste profile.
Roma Tomatoes: provides a delicate umami tang and delicate sweetness.
Shallots: Add a mixture of garlic and onion taste.
Garlic: use about a whole head of garlic for a strong fragrant taste.
Lemongrass: provides citrus, floral, candy, and tangy notes with hints of ginger and mint.
Brown Sugar: balances out the warmth from the peppers. It additionally provides a extra molasses-forward sweetness than common sugar.
Rooster Bouillon Powder: a well-liked cooking ingredient in Malaysian delicacies that provides a salty, savory comforting taste.
Fish Sauce: provides a cool, umami, and salty layer.
Salt: season the sambal oelek sauce.
Lime juice: provides a pinch of acidity to interrupt by way of the heavy warmth.

All the ingredients for making sambal oelek organized and labeled.

Substitutions and Additions

Substitutions

Tomatoes: any sort of tomatoes will work similar to cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or beefsteak tomatoes.
Tomato paste: about 1 tablespoon of tomato paste as a substitute for the tomatoes.
Sugar: granulated sugar, palm sugar or coconut sugar are additionally good options.
Tamarind paste: a substitute for contemporary lime juice.
Impartial oil: any impartial oil with a excessive smoke level will do similar to avocado oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil, or canola oil.

Additions

Inexperienced chilis: you can too create a mix of pink and inexperienced chilis for extra taste.
Ginger: for extra fragrant flavors
Soy sauce: provides a salty, umami taste.
Lime Leaves: for extra added citrus taste.

The right way to Make Sambal Oelek

Listed here are the step-by-step photograph directions for find out how to make this sambal oelek recipe. See the recipe card beneath for full measurements and detailed directions.

Warmth a skillet over medium-high warmth till sizzling and switch your range fan on excessive. Toast the belacan shrimp paste for 1 minute till crumbled and charred.

Toasting fermented shrimp paste in a wok.

Warmth 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over excessive warmth till sizzling. Add the pink chili peppers, tomato, shallots, garlic, and lemongrass and char on either side till browned.

Toasting peppers, tomatoes, and aromatics in a large skillet.

Place the greens in a meals processor, or a mortar and pestle. Mix the charred greens till they type a chunky paste.

Chopped up peppers and aromatics in a food processor.

In a medium skillet over medium-low warmth, add the vegetable oil, blended chilis, belacan, brown sugar, hen bouillon powder, fish sauce, and salt. Combine till mixed. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes uncovered. Flip off the warmth add 1 tablespoon of lime juice and blend till mixed.

Cooking down sambal oelek in a large skillet.

Let the sauce cool earlier than serving. Retailer in an hermetic container within the fridge.

Knowledgeable Suggestions

Use a wide range of chili peppers. The normal sambal oelek makes use of simply Thai chili peppers which may be very sizzling. For this sambal oelek recipe, I like to recommend utilizing a mix of Korean peppers, pink jalapenos, and/or Thai chilis for extra taste.
Char the peppers and aromatics. This primary step is essential to creating extra depth, and a chargrilled taste to the sambal.
Activate the range fan and open your home windows. Cooking the belachan shrimp paste and the chili peppers will launch a robust aroma that may envelop your senses.
Gradual-cook the paste for extra taste. Simmering the chili paste within the oil will launch among the warmth, whereas additionally giving the aromatics extra time to meld collectively and create a extra concentrated taste.
Season to style. Style the ultimate sambal paste and add extra sugar, salt, or fish sauce to style.

Storage Directions

You possibly can retailer this sambal oelek in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 1 week.

Freeze: You may also freeze the sambal in a freezer-safe container within the freezer for as much as 3 months.

Pairing Options

This sambal oelek recipe is extremely versatile and can be utilized to boost any of the next pairing recommendations beneath.

Appetizers similar to Vietnamese egg rolls, pork and chive dumplings, banh tom (Vietnamese shrimp and candy potato fritters), or Vietnamese spring rolls (goi cuon).
Proteins similar to air fryer soy sauce hen, Vietnamese lemongrass hen, hen bulgogi, air fryer teriyaki salmon, miso salmon, and bo lu lac (Vietnamese shaking beef).
Noodle dishes similar to mie goreng (Indonesian noodles), hen lo mein, soy sauce pan-fried noodles, bami goreng (Indonesian stir-fried noodles), bihun goreng (vermicelli stir fry), pad see ew (Thai stir-fried noodles), hen pad Thai and yaki udon.
Fried rice dishes similar to shrimp fried rice, spam fried rice, garlic fried rice, Thai basil fried rice, egg fried rice, or Thai pineapple fried rice.
Soup or stew dishes similar to Vietnamese hen noodle soup, wonton soup, Chinese language egg drop soup, bo kho (Vietnamese beef stew), bun rieu (Vietnamese crab and tomato soup) and chao ga (Vietnamese hen porridge).

FAQ

Can I make sambal oelek upfront?

Sure, you may make this sambal oelek recipe for as much as 1 week upfront if refrigerated or 3 months frozen.

Is sambal oelek spicy?

Sure, sambal oelek will be fairly spicy since it’s made with contemporary pink chili peppers. Nevertheless, the extent of warmth can differ relying on the kind of chilis used.

What’s the distinction between sambal oelek and sriracha?

Sambal oelek is extra of a pink chili paste that’s chunkier and thicker somewhat than a easy liquid sizzling sauce like sriracha. Sambal can differ in warmth stage relying on the chili peppers and sriracha is often milder. Sambal originated in Indonesia whereas sriracha originated in Thailand.

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