Sambal Oelek Recipe

A top down view of a bowl of sambal oelek surrounded by ingredients.

Spicy, savory, and addicting chili sauce that can be used with just about anything. This easy homemade sambal oelek recipe will instantly elevate your dishes.

Course Sauce

Cuisine Indonesian

Keyword sambal, sambal chili garlic sauce, sambal chili sauce, sambal oelek, sambal recipe, sambal sauce

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings cups

Calories 904kcal

Author Megan

Equipment

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (15 g) belacan toasted
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 oz red chili peppers Korean peppers, red jalapenos, or Thai chilis, stems removed
2 Roma tomatoes halved
4 shallots peeled and halved
12 cloves garlic peeled
1 stalk lemongrass white part only, thinly sliced
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon salt or more to taste
1 tablespoon lime juice or more to taste

Instructions

Toast the belacan. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat until hot and turn your stove fan on high. The smell will be intense. Toast the belacan shrimp paste for 1 minute until crumbled and charred.
Char the vegetables. Heat 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil over high heat until hot. Add the red chili peppers, tomato, shallots, garlic, and lemongrass and char on each side until browned.
Blend. Place the vegetables in a food processor, or in a mortar and pestle. Blend the charred vegetables until it forms a chunky paste.
Saute. In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, add the vegetable oil, blended chillis, belacan, brown sugar, chicken bouillon powder, fish sauce, and salt. Mix until combined. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes uncovered. Turn off the heat, add 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and mix until combined.
Serve. Let the sauce cool before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

See the Expert Tips section above for more guidance.

Nutrition