Spiced Tomato Sauce – Sambel Tomat

Spiced Tomato Sauce – Sambel Tomat

Ingredients:

200 ml Coconut oil or vegetable oil
200 g Shallots, peeled and sliced
100 g Garlic, peeled and sliced
375 g Large red chilies, seeded and sliced
375 g Bird’s eye chilies , whole
1 ½ tbsp Dried shrimp paste, roasted
25 g Palm sugar finely chopped
750 g Tomato, peeled and seeded
1 tbsp Lime juice
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in heavy sauce pan, add shallots and garlic and sauté until golden.

Add chilies and continue to sauté until chilies are soft. Add palm sugar and shrimp cake and continue to sauté until sugar caramelizes. Finally add tomatoes and continue to sauté until tomatoes are soft.

Set aside to cool. Then grind in stone mortar or puree coarsely in food processor.

Season to taste with salt and lemon juice.

Note: Cooking the ingredients over high heat while stirring continuously helps to preserve the red co;or of the sauce. This delicious spicy dip served together with Sambel Matah makes an ideal condiment to grilled fish.

Peanut Sauce – Base Kacang

Ingredients:
500 g Raw peanuts with skin, deep fried or roasted golden brown
5 Garlic cloves peeled and sliced
8 – 10 Bird’s-eye chilies finely sliced
15 g Kencur (lesser galangal), washed and sliced
20 g Palm sugar, chopped
750 ml Coconut milk (more if needed)
4 tbsp Sweet soy sauce
2 kaffir Lime leaves torn
1 tbsp Lime juice
1 tbsp Fried shallots

Preparation:

Combine peanuts, garlic, chilies and kencur in a food processor or stone mortar and grind finely.
Place ground ingredients in heavy saucepan together with coconut milk, palm sugar and sweet soy sauce. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking, for 15 minutes. Add more milk or water should sauce thicken to much.
Add limejuice and sprinkle with shallots just before serving as a dipping sauce for sate. Season to taste with salt. Serve warm.

If you like a lighter version of this delicious dipping sauce, then simply replace coconut milk with water and grind in a stone mortar or food processor into a smooth creamy sauce. No need to cook.

Makes a delicious dipping sauce for meat sates or as a dressing for a vegetable salad.

In most tourist hotels and restaurant this sauce is served together with sates as a dipping sauce. Funny enough the Balinese would never serve a dipping sauce with their sates, as they are already marinated and do not require additional sauce, instead mix salt and chopped chilies in which the tip of the sate is coated.

Pickled Vegetables – Acar

Ingredients:

250 ml Water
250 ml White crystal sugar
250 ml Rice vinegar (optional white vinegar)
50 g Ginger peeled and sliced
1 Stalk lemongrass bruised
1 Pinch, Salt
3 Medium, Cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced
10 Small shallots peeled and quartered
10 Bird’s eye chilies

Preparation:

For the dressing combine water, sugar, ginger vinegar, lemongrass and salt in saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for one minute and then allow to cool
Combine remaining ingredients and mix with warm dressing.
Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving at room temperature.