Our artisanal sambals pair great with
grilled meats, eggs, cheese, tacos, bagels,
noodles, coconut rice, and more!
Our artisanal sambals pair great with
grilled meats, eggs, cheese, tacos, bagels,
noodles, coconut rice, and more!
If you know sambal, you know it is synonymous with Malay food. Sambal is the generic term for spicy chili condiments added to dishes to complement their flavors. You can find countless varieties of sambal throughout the Malay Archipelago (also known as Nusantara), including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei. Each sambal accompanies a specific dish.
There are many unique sambal combinations, and different families will all maintain that theirs is the best. Nasi lemak (savory coconut rice with fried fish, cucumber, dried anchovy and peanut) is accompanied by sambal tumis, a variety including smoky palm sugar, tamarind and lime leaf. Laksa (spicy coconut broth noodles) has its own sambal laksa, with dried chilis, fermented shrimp paste and shallots. Ikan bakah (grilled fish) comes with sambal kicap: soy, bird's eye chilis and sugar. Some sambals are tangier with tamarind, others are sweetened by dark soy, but all include the star ingredient -- chili.
Tangy Hot is a vegan take on sambal tumis, which pairs well with coconut rice, salmon (sambal ikan), eggplant (terong belado), or served on hard-boiled eggs (sambal telor) or tomato paste ginger chicken (ayam masak merah). Add a squeeze of lime before serving; a hint of shrimp paste also works well.
To make sambal ikan: liberally coat individual servings of salmon or trout with sambal. Grill or broil in foil or banana leaf pockets. Serve hot.
Chunky Heat is our take on sambal matah, but with added rice vinegar for a brighter taste. Imagine a South East Asian chimichurri. A bright relish that is paired with fried chicken (ayam goreng), sandwiches, steak (daging bakar), sardines or tuna salad (ikan pedas).
We like it with steak, eggrolls, dim sum and as a base for stir-fry. In Bali, sambal matah is paired with roasted duck (bebek guling), nasi kunyit (turmeric rice), and blanched greens (urap, consisting of spinach, long green beans, roasted coconut and bean sprouts.)