“Sambal Terasi” is a very famous Indonesian chili dip with hint of dried shrimp. The original recipe normally done by Indonesians involved shrimp paste. Shrimp paste is made from fermented dried shrimp, anchovies and salt - sometimes coloring and artificial flavor - left out in the sun to bake and dry. This is known as belacan / terasi, which is then sold in a form of block wrapped in paper / plastic. This is an acquired taste, hence the chili dip as well.
I would prefer to use dried shrimp, and fry it with hot oil till it dries and gives out the well-loved pungent smell. This way, I know what’s really in my dip.
This extra special hot dip is eaten with fresh / steamed vegetables (such as cucumber, carrot, string bean, cassava leaves, papaya leaves, cabbage, etc) - as a palate cleanser to the heavier main courses served with steam rice.
Ingredients
75 gr (20 pcs) big red and green thai chili
10 gr (1/4 cup) green small thai chili
40 gr (2 tablespoons) red palm sugar
2 cloves garlic
2 cloves shallot
20 gr (1/4 cup) dried shrimp
1/2 medium sized tomato
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1/2 lime
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water. Drop chili, garlic, shallot and tomato into the boiling water. Cook and cover for 3-4 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat cooking oil in a small pan. Fry dried shrimp till dry (about 3 -4 minutes)
- In a food processor bowl, put in chili, garlic, shallot, tomato, dried shrimp, palm sugar, salt and lime juice. Pulse for five seconds. Use a spatula, scrape the bottom. Pulse for another 5 seconds or until the desired texture.
- Serve with fresh vegetables, such as cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes.
Note
- This is extremely spicy. We have a very high degree of tolerance to hot food. If milder dip is preferred, slice open all the chili and remove the seeds. Also, boiling them longer will result in milder taste.
- The amount of chili used can be reduced and substituted with seedless tomato chunks.
- The chili needs to be cooked before processing in blender / mortal & pestle because raw chili will have the “raw” taste to it. After boiling or pan frying the chili, the dip will taste “rounded”. I personally prefer boiling.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This is awesome….would like to make this as dip for grilled /barbeque fish…can’t wait to try it out :))
elin’s last blog post..Pork Belly Sandwiched With Yam Slices
gorgeous photo! thanks for the recipe!
Lick My Spoon’s last blog post..Sushi Bistro: Rock n’ Roll Me
ooh .. sambal .. love it! have it all the time for all my meals in malaysia!
Elin,
I think it will be great for grilled fish.
Lick My Spoon,
Thanks!
FamilyFirst,
I think we Indonesian and you guys - Malaysian have the exact same food … We are practically siblings!