Sambal: Information from Answers.com

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For the Indian dish, see Sambar (dish). For the ethnic group, see Sambal people. For the language family, see Sambalic languages.

Anchovies in sambal

A Sambal can be a condiment, an ingredient or a dish which will always contain a large amount of chilis. The word is of Indonesian and Malaysian origin. Sambals are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Indonesian influence. It is typically made from a variety of peppers, although chili peppers are the most common. Sambal is used as a condiment and as an ingredient for a variety of dishes. It is sometimes a substitute for fresh chilis. It can be extremely spicy for the uninitiated. Some ready-made sambals are available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets in many countries. A sambal can also be a pungent dish of its own in which a large amount of chili peppers is used. Dishes called a sambal include sambal sotong (with cuttlefish), sambal udang kering (with dried prawns) and sambal lengkong (with ikan parang/wolf herring).^[1]

1 Ingredients
2 Indonesian Sambal
3 Malaysian Sambal
4 See also
5 Notes and references

Ingredients

Fresh chilis are the main ingredient for a sambal

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 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 pepper. They have an irregular shape.
Cabe Rawit (bird's eye chili): Elongated and tiny. These are red or green and very hot. Cabe is pronounced as "chabeh".
Chilli peppers or lombok (Indonesian): 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 called cabe taliwang, this peppers rates a 800,000 on the Scoville scale, which is ten times hotter than cabe rawit (Thai pepper)

Indonesian Sambal

Sambal Terasi: A common Indonesian style of sambal. Similar to the Malaysian Belacan, but with a stronger flavor since terasi is a more condensed shrimp paste than belacan. Red and green peppers, trassi, sugar, salt, lemon or lime juice (tangy, strong). One version omits the lime juice and has the sambal fried with pounded tomatoes. Popularly eaten raw.
Sambal Asam: This is similar to Sambal Terasi with an addition of tamarind (asam) concentrate. 'Asam' means sour in Indonesian

Sambal Bajak in jar

Sambal Bajak (Badjak): Chili (or another kind of red pepper) fried with oil, garlic, trassi, candlenuts and other condiments; this is darker and richer in flavor than Sambal Asam.
Sambal mangga: Freshly ground Sambal Terasi with shredded young mango; this is a good accompaniment to seafood.
Sambal ijo: A specialty of the Padang area from Indonesia, the sambal is green, made of green tomatoes, green chilli, and spices. The sambal is stir fried.
Sambal gandaria: Freshly ground Sambal Terasi with shredded gandaria.
Sambal daun mangga muda: Freshly ground Sambal Terasi with very young mango leaves.
Sambal Balado: Minangkabau style Sambal. Chili pepper or green chili is blended together with garlic, shallot, red or green tomato, salt and lemon or lime juice, then sauteed with oil.
Sambal Tumis: Chili 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 Terasi with an addition of candlenuts.
Sambal Kecap Manis: Indonesian sweet soy sauce, chili, shallots and lime it has a chiefly sweet taste, as said by the Indonesian word 'manis' which means 'sweet'.
Sambal Udang: Chili fried with oil, garlic and shrimps.

Sambal Oelek

Sambal Ulek (Oelek): Chili (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 become 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 chilies, peppers, shallots, peanuts, and other kinds of ingredients.
Sambal Setan: A very hot sambal with Madame Jeanette peppers (red brownish, very sharp). The name literally means "Devil's Sauce".
Sambal Taliwang: This variant is native to Taliwang, a village near Mataram, Lombok Island, and is 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.
Sambal matah: Raw Shallot & Lemongrass Sambal of Bali origin. It contains a lot of finely chopped shallots, chopped bird's eye chilli, shrimp paste (trassi), with a dash of lemon

Malaysian Sambal

Sambal Belacan: A Malay style sambal. Fresh chilis are pounded together with toasted shrimp paste (belacan) in a stone mortar to which sugar and lime juice are added. Originally, 'Limau kesturi', which is Kalamansi lime, is used but since this is scarce outside of Southeast Asia, normal lime is used as a replacement.^[2] Tomatoes are optional ingredients. Sometimes, sweet sour mangoes or equivalent local fruits are also used. It can be eaten with cucumbers or 'ulam' (leafy herbs) in a meal of rice and other dishes. A Malaysian-Chinese version is to fry belacan with chili.^[3]
Sambal Jeruk: Green or red pepper with kaffir lime. (colourless, adds taste). In Malaysia, it is called cili (chili) jeruk. Sometimes vinegar and sugar are substituted for the lime. Used as a condiment with fried rice and noodle based dishes.
Sambal daging/Serunding daging: A Malay style sambal prepared from meat ("daging") and spices and cooked for more than 4 hours until the meat loses its shape. Similar to meat floss.^[4]
Sambal ikan: Available in varieties, some are in the shape of dry fish floss known as Serunding ikan, and some are moist such as sambal ikan bilis ("anchovies") or sambal ikan tongkol ("tuna"). A Malay style sambal prepared from fish ("ikan") and spices and cooked until the fish loses its shape.