Sambal bajak

Name: Sambal bajak
Yield: Makes 300 ml
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 30 ml Tamarind Liquid; 250 ml coconut milk; 30 g palm sugar; 40 ml fish sauce; 10 red shallots, sliced; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 50 ml vegetable oil; 6 kaffir lime leaves, shredded; 20 large red chillies, chopped; 30 g belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste); 1 tablespoon minced ginger; 6 candlenuts; 30 g belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste)

Preparation info

Makes
300 ml

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Spice

By Christine Manfield

Published 1999

About

Being cooked, this sambal is more gentle on the palate, relatively speaking, than the raw varieties. It includes onions for sweetness and belacan and tamarind for sourness. Used mainly in Indonesian cooking and popular with rice dishes such as nasi goreng, it is made with the milder, large Lombok chillies.

Ingredients

30 g belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste)
20 large red chillies, chopped
6

Asia
Indonesia
Fish course
Sauce
Pescatarian
Gluten-free
South East Asia

Method

Dry-roast belacan over gentle heat until fragrant. Blend belacan, chillies, candlenuts, ginger, garlic, shallots, lime leaves and oil to a smooth paste in a food processor. Cook paste over gentle heat until softened, 10-15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes until a thick paste has formed and a layer of oil is still evident. Stir oil into sambal and rem