Sambal Oelek

Recipe from Zulfikar Fahd

Adapted by Mia Leimkuhler

Published Dec. 5, 2024

Sambal Oelek
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Rating
4(32)
Comments
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The best thing about making sambal oelek yourself — besides the fact that the finished result is much more nuanced and complex than what you can purchase in stores — is that you can tailor it to your taste. Add more tomatoes and fewer chiles if you want it less spicy; leave out the nuts if you like (although they do add a nice body and nuttiness to balance out the spice and salt). Use this sambal oelek, which was adapted from Zulfikar Fahd, the chef and owner of Java Bali Kitchen, a Indonesian pop-up restaurant in Toronto, as an ingredient in other recipes or on its own as a bright, punchy condiment to complement any number of mains. (Try it with fried chicken!) —Mia Leimkuhler

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 3 cups
  • 4tablespoons neutral oil
  • 2medium shallots, sliced
  • 4garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1teaspoon shrimp paste
  • 2 to 4fresh makrut lime leaves, torn, center spine discarded (or the zest from 1 lime)
  • 1lemongrass stalk, white parts only, thinly sliced
  • 2 to 3thin slices peeled ginger, chopped
  • 4candlenuts (or macadamia nuts), optional
  • 2 to 4medium tomatoes, hulled and quartered
  • 2red finger chiles, deseeded and chopped
  • 2Thai chiles, sliced (more if you like it spicier)
  • 2teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • 2teaspoons sugar
  • Juice from 1 lime
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

227 calories; 17 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 495 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add the shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, lime leaves (if using lime zest, hold the zest until final step), lemongrass, ginger and candlenuts, and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Scoop the contents of the pan into a food processor.

  2. Step 2

    Return the pan to the heat, add the rest of the oil, then cook the tomatoes and both types of chiles for 2 to 3 minutes until the tomatoes start to soften. Add them, along with any oil and liquids in the pan, to the food processor or mortar and pestle and process or crush until smooth.

  3. Step 3

    Add the salt, sugar and lime juice to taste. If using lime zest instead of lime leaves, add it now. Your sambal is ready to serve. Leftover sambal oelek keeps in the refrigerator for about a week.

Ratings

4 out of 5
32 user ratings
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Comments

Mosta Merica

"Candlenuts" refers to: A. A beloved, if difficult-to-find, Christmastime cartoon B. The common name for a rare tropical infection C. An ingredient that could be more realistically written for 99.9% of NYT readers as "Macadamia nuts (or candlenuts)" D. Something one should never whisper three times in front of the mirror

Marthe Lablans

This is not Sambal Oelek, but Sambal Badjak. Sambal oelek is only salt, slightly roasted red peppers, cut in rings and made fine together in an tjobek and oelekan ( mortar and pestle)

Zulfikar Fahd

@EdH Hey, shrimp paste is a fermented prawn sauce commonly found in Asian dishes. They’re available in your city’s Chinatown or Asian stores.

K & S

Some of these comments are a bit spicy but you can make this Sambal as hot as *you* like! This is our absolute favourite Sambal. It freezes great and it can be tweaked to suit your preferences for heat but it’s such a delicious base! We eat it with so many things. Highly recommend making up a big batch. I’m so excited to see more Indonesian recipes in the NYT! At the same time it’s important to remember that the Indonesian archipelago is incredibly diverse so let’s celebrate that regional diversity and revel in getting to learn how others make their Sambal! Excited to see more recipes from Zulfikar! I sub candlenuts for macadamia nuts usually but I disagree that a recipe’s value lies in being able to find all the ingredients easily. A decade ago many of the Asian ingredients you can now get at any Wholefoods were incredibly difficult to source. Now they are becoming mainstream. Let’s embrace tracking down new ingredients and trying cooking these cuisines at home even if we have to do have to shop about a bit. As an immigrant you would not believe the lengths I’ve gone to find a taste of home! Now a decade later some of those same hard to find items are in Target!

Ray

This might take only 15 minutes to make but it will take hours to find all the ingredients—yet another NYT recipe with 6 ingredients that I not only don't have but will be difficult to find in almost any grocery store. I'll stick with my store-bought sambal from Stop & Shop, knowing that I can always add a bit more garlic, or ginger or tomato to it, according to my taste.

CST

What are finger chiles?

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