Simple Foods: Sambal

There are indeed many versions, of this 'sambal' thing. Sambals come in different colors and flavours, the simple one will be the one I will be explaining. The different textures and flavours of sambal varies for what is to be put in it.

Known differences:

1. Different ingredients mixed, pounded or grounded with the chillies.
2.Texture of the grounded or 'pulsed' end product.
3. Color, due to the different ingredients.
4. Consistency, for different purposes.
5. Flavorings used will result to different tastes, such as lime rind, lemon juice, tamarind pulp juice, and etc.

Some sambals, are served as condiments to a meal, think the Indian coconut sambar, sometimes served with vegetables as an appetizer, think of the vegetable tray served before a Thai meal, sometimes as a marinade such as the sambal on the ikan bakar (grilled fish on banana leaf) , sometimes as a dish itself, fried with meat of vegetables.

Textures vary, for the different purposes, It may range from fine to course. Ingredients vary as well, some are plain, some are 'spiked' with prawn powder or belachan ( bad for people like me, allergic to prawns ), some have gallangal, lemongrass, mint,corriander and other leafy herbs added to compliment the meats or vegetables they are to 'accompany', be in in a strir-fry, a steam, or even the grill. Some sambals are pounded with the pestle and mortar for a noticeable grainy, chilli-ish texture, and the grinder or a processor for fine paste like texture.

The main ingredient of a sambal, without a doubt are chillies. Dried chillies, rehydrated by soaking for a few hours, then pureed into a paste. In olden times, think, about three generations before me, there were no food processors ar any kitchen gadgets, so this paste was made using a grinding stone ( a slab of stone witha rolling pin-like gizmo, all done by hand).

Well, nowadays, you could just purchase this chilli paste at any Asian supermarkets or grocery store. How simple life is. But my mother, coming from the old-school of cooks, it definitely against the use of this store available and stove top ready wonders. My mom says, you do not know how 'dirty' the chilies are and how unhygenically they were prepared, and easily I retorted ' I have been consuming this a third of my life, and I never got diarrhoea!' Knock wood!

When my sister was in the States, she used to get the Vietnemese version of the chilli paste, to fry her noodles and etc. The paste, she brought some back for me to 'study' consisted of dried chillies, vinegar, salt and sugar. Yes, it is actually that simple.

Chilli paste

2 kilos of dried chillies, remove the seeds with a kitchen scissors
water, enough to cover all the chillies, soak for a couple of hours

1. Throw away the water.It will have some strange color.
2. Rinse it twice.
3. Have a pot or wok filled with water, cook the chillies for about 10 minutes.
4. Drain the chillies.
5. In a food processor, dump all the chillies with a tablespoon of cooking oil, preferebly vegetable oil and not olive.
6. Pulse till you get a fine paste.

Note:
The oil is used as a lubricant for the blade, my mother says so.
It will create a smooth paste.
I think it keeps the chillies in better shape, for a longer period of time (of course, cooking on the stove helps too!)

And there you have a batch of chilli paste. This keeps well frozen, what we do at home is to pack them in small bags, freeze them, and only take the small bags out according to the quantity needed for a dish.

Alright, I hope my mom is happy with the inclusion of the messy process above, below is the store bought paste:



Now, the store bought paste is almost 'pure' chilli. I would suggest the following:


Sambal Goreng

140g of store bought chilli paste
2 large onions
some salt
some sugar
some lemon juice or tamarind pulp juice
vegetable oil

1. Peel, slice and pulse the onions to a somewhat course texture. This will give you nice noticeable onion bits (see opening picture,top)
2. Pour oil in a wok, and let it heat up.
3. Add in the pulsed onions. Add a little salt to discourage burning. Fry till limp and fragrant.
4. Add in the chilli paste. Mix well in the wok, fry for about 7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning.
5. Add a little sugar, salt and lemon juice to taste (these three are usually used to balance the flavors). Cook for another 5 minutes till slightly dry.
6. Put aside to cool. Store. Keeps about 1 week in the fridge. And slightly longer in the freezer.


For what usage you may ask? Some suggestions include:

1.Vegetable stir fries.
2.Meat stir fries.
3. The 'heat' in noodles for some'oomph'
4. As a dip.


I have used the above in my Snake Beans and Sambal stir fry. Clean and cut beans. Put very little oil in a wok. Add beans. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, or to the degree of your own vegetable done-ness, then add the magical 'Sambal Goreng' .The contracting colors, extremely appetising. Taste, excellent I might say. Serve with steamed rice, easily achieveable with the most useful Asian kitchen gadget: the rice cooker!