What Is Sambal?

This versatile Indonesian condiment brings the heat—and so much more.

June 23, 2023

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The process of making chili sauce from red chili with a traditional handmade mortar. Indonesian cooking. homemade food. top view

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The process of making chili sauce from red chili with a traditional handmade mortar. Indonesian cooking. homemade food. top view

Photo by: sanggung dewo/Getty Images

sanggung dewo/Getty Images

By Layla Khoury-Hanold for Food Network Kitchen

Layla Khoury-Hanold is a contributor at Food Network.

Perhaps you’ve seen sambal oelek on menus, or spotted jars of it in the hot sauce aisle of your local grocery store. For more info on what sambal oelek is and how to use it, we consulted Wulan Del Valle, chef-founder of Jakarta Munch, an Indonesian restaurant at Urban Hawker in New York City.

What Is Sambal Oelek?

Sambal oelek is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste made from a variety of chili peppers ground together with a mortar and pestle. Sambal means hot sauce and oelek means pestle, Del Valle explains. While oelek is the Dutch spelling, ulek (pronounced u legh) is the Indonesian spelling. “Almost every island and household in Indonesia has a different recipe for sambal ulek," Del Valle says. "To me, if it's not made with a pestle, or ulekan, it will just be called sambal, or hot sauce." Del Valle is from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, but she has Sundanese relatives who use sambal oelek in different ways. "One of my grandma's recipes is cabai rawit, or Thai bird chili, with makrut lime, garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, lime leaves, salt and a little bit of sugar. We eat sambel ulek with almost every meal, mostly as a dipping sauce.”

To make sambal oelek, all ingredients should be cooked before being ground with the pestle, Del Valle says. Ingredients can be boiled or fried, if an oilier texture is desired.

Person kneading chili boiled sauce in the kitchen. Preparing Indonesian food.

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Person kneading chili boiled sauce in the kitchen. Preparing Indonesian food.

Photo by: Maria Marganingsih/Getty Images

Maria Marganingsih/Getty Images

How to Use Sambal Oelek

In Indonesia, sambal oelek is eaten with just about everything, including grilled or fried proteins, eggs, rice and fruit. “Sambal ulek is a great pairing for fried or grilled chicken, lalapan—a variety of boiled or raw veggies—fried tempeh, fried tofu, fried or grilled fish, grilled beef ribs, egg dishes, and more. The best way is to eat it with rice. It can also be used for soups,” Del Valle says.

Use sambal oelek as you would other hot sauces or pepper pastes. Try it in stir fries, like these stir-fried rice noodles, to accompany rice dishes, like Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice), or in a marinade, as with our beef satay. Perk up condiments by adding a dollop of sambal oelek to mayo, mustard or sour cream, such as these Black Kale and Pork Belly Tacos with Sambal Sour Cream. And, if you like your cocktails to pack a little heat, consider this sambal-spiked Bloody Mary.

Creative Image

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Creative Image

Photo by: Kadek Bonit Permadi/Getty Images

Kadek Bonit Permadi/Getty Images

Sambal Oelek Substitute

If you want to capture the flavors of sambal oelek but don't have all the ingredients, Del Valle recommends the following substitutions: swap Jamaican pepper or habanero for Thai bird chili; fermented bean paste for shrimp paste; red or yellow onion for shallots; and grocery lime for makrut lime. As for the method, if you don't have a pestle, pulse the ingredients in a food processor for a few seconds until it just reaches a thick paste texture.

Another possible substitution is pre-made garlic-and-chile sauce or chili crisp. Chili pastes like harissa or gochujang, and hot sauces such as sriracha can also help provide heat, but all lack the texture of homemade sambal oelek.

Recipes with Sambal Oelek

In this recipe, sambal oelek does double duty in the marinade and dressing, adding a nuanced heat to the marinated-then-sauteed chicken and a smack of texture to the creamy peanut topping. For more heat, finish the dish with another spoonful of sambal oelek.

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Photo by: Antonis Achilleos

Antonis Achilleos

Rice noodles dressed in a sweet-spicy-funky dressing contrast nicely with thinly sliced cucumber and red onions, plus cubes of watermelon and slices of grilled steak. It all adds up to a dish that’s perfect for a weeknight supper al fresco or a luxurious lunch.

Although sambal oelek doesn’t get top billing in the recipe’s name, it brings a dash of heat and accentuates the garlic notes in the marinade and garlic-topped fried rice. We’re willing to bet that the combo of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, sambal oelek and grated garlic would make a great marinade for shrimp skewers or eggplant-and-mushroom kebabs, too.

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This recipe’s simple presentation belies the riot of flavors and textures within. Fresh grapefruit segments are tossed with sambal oelek, unsweetened coconut, roasted peanuts, mint and scallions, and then added to lettuce wraps anchored with savory sauteed pork.

In this hands-off slow cooker recipe, sambal oelek is whisked with coconut milk, water and soy sauce to create a flavorful mixture to coat squash, potatoes and shiitakes. The result is a medley of tender vegetables cloaked in a creamy sauce with umami and an undercurrent of heat.

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