Sambal is probably one of the easiest things you can pull off in the kitchen! While it’s true that each family has a special technique or ingredient, and that there are over 200 sambal variations in Southeast Asia.
Any basic sambal recipe starts with a specific type of chilli, aromatics like shallots, lemongrass or onions, and spices like ginger. Sometimes, you add a little acidity such as lime or tamarind to brighten its flavour. Then, it’s just a matter of seasoning it with salt and sugar to tie in all its complex flavours. And while it’s impossible to teach you the many variations, I can, however, share with you Onion sambal.
This sambal is a staple for a lot of Malaysians because it’s the perfect condiment for nasi lemak. It’s also the same sambal you use to make dishes like Ayam Goreng Sambal, Terung Sambal or any stir-fried noodles or fried rice. This is probably the most labour-intensive sambal to make because it involves a lengthier cooking time.
The trick to this sambal is to just to blend all your ingredients until they’re fine and well combined, and cook it in copious amounts of oil until the mix darkens and thickens. Sambal that is cooked a longer period of time is tastier and has a longer shelf life.
Grind into a fine paste
180gm dried red chillies, cut in 3 parts and soak in hot water overnight
1 nip garlic
11gm roasted shrimp paste/belacan
110gm pink shallots
50gm dried prawns/shrimp (soak in water for 15mins and drained)
Ingredients B
1 1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp seedless tamarind paste mix with 2 tbsp water
2 cup of water
4 to 5 tbsp sugar
160gm/1 large Bombay onion, cut into rings
salt to taste
Need to be warned, in order to make a good sambal paste you need a lot of oil. You need the oil to completely soak up the ingredients and fry up every nooks and cranny of the blended ingredients until fragrant. It is also essential to slowly stir fry the paste to get the maximum aroma and taste. This will also ensure that the chillies are really cooked and do not have any raw taste. Besides, it will also lessen the spiciness
of the sambal.
The first is that the only thing that’s cooked is the shrimp paste. Some people like to burn it directly on a gas fire, but in order to keep it from being over-roasted and producing a distasteful smell, you can do this in a dry pan. It is easily available for me in Melaka, therefore, I don't dry roast the shrimp paste.
In a wok, heat oil slightly, then add in Ingredients A, and slowly stir and cook in low heat. Keep stirring at all times in the beginning. Be careful, as sometimes the paste does splutter. Keep stirring so that the paste does not burn. Once oil floats, add in onions, sugar, salt, tamarind water, stir for another 2mins, then add in 2 cups water, and leave to simmer gently. At this stage, you can close with a lid. Occasionally, stir to avoid the sambal from sticking to the pan.
The process of making the sambal will take about 2 hours. This produces a tasty and finger-licking good sambal that goes well for nasi lemak. You can keep this sambal refrigerated up to 1 week or more.
Steamed Nasi Lemak
KangKung Stir Fry
Nasi lemak Sambal
Spicy Soy Sauce Squid
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