Sambal Oelek. A VERY spicy chili paste sauce made with bird’s eye chilies, onion, shallots, garlic, tomatoes and oil. A flavourful sauce used to cook your favourite dishes with or used as a condiment.
What is a sambal oelek? Well it is a spicy condiment or sauce that is often used in South-East Asian cuisine especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam! It originates from Indonesia.
Every time I watch YouTube videos of South-East Asian street food vendors use this paste while frying noodles or make some spicy curry, I always have thought, “I need to make my OWN paste!”. And so I did but I will warn you, this sauce is extremely spicy and is not for those who cannot tolerate spice. You only need to use a little bit of this sauce to flavour your dish.
You can tone this sambal oelek paste down by using the larger red chillies that look like jalapenos and de-seed them. Another trick is to add more oil or sugar if needed.
What does sambal oelek taste like?
It’s a spicy sauce thanks to the chilies with a sweet and more flavourful profile because of the sugar and chicken powder.
How do you use sambal oelek?
This is a great sauce in cooking noodles like Mee Goreng or Mee Bodoh or in very spicy curries! Or use it as a condiment to spice up your favourite dish. You can even use it to flavour meat too.
Easy to make!
This sambal oelek recipe is incredibly easy to make at home! You simply need to char your prepared aromatics and chillies in some oil. Then blend it in a blender or food processor. And lastly, saute it in a pot with the remaining ingredients for 10 minutes.
Sauté sauce outdoors!
I would highly recommend doing the latter outdoors to avoid inhaling the spicy smoke that comes from the chilies or it can result in a coughing fest!
Can I make this less spicy?
Yes, instead of using bird’s eye chillies (the tiny baby ones) use the larger red and green chilis that look like jalapenos. Alternative you can add more oil and sugar to fan the flames in the last step.
Tips for making the best Sambal Oelek
Use quality ingredients. It is common sense but fresher ingredients yield a better tasting sauce.
When you sauté your sauce, do it over low-medium heat to avoid burning the sauce. Trust me, it’s already going to burn your tongue so you don’t need to smoke it up even more.
Where can I find birds eye chili?
You can find this ingredient at most Asian grocers in the fresh produce aisle.
Can I use dried chillies?
I would not recommend it as a substitute. If you can’t find these chilies, use the larger red and green chilis that are usually a few inches long. ps. I know they're seen in the above pictures but it was only used to style the shot as I used up all my fresh ones.
Can sambal oelek go bad?
Yes, if you leave it out at room temperature for prolonged periods. I would recommend storing this sealed in the fridge.
How long will it last for?
It will usually last 5-6 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Or you can freeze it so it can last for 5-6 months.
Other recipes you may like!
For this recipe
You will need the following sambal oelek ingredients:
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 70 grams bird’s eye red chilies (Less spicy version: use larger red chilis that look like jalapenos)
- 70 grams bird’s eye green chilies (Less spicy version: use larger green chilis that look like jalapenos)
- 260 grams tomatoes of any kind (I used cherry tomatoes for a sweeter flavour)
- 2 shallots, halved
- 1 small cooking onion, sliced
- 1 bulb garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup avocado oil for later
- 4 tbsp sugar
- ½ tbsp salt
- 3 tsp chicken powder
How to make Sambal Oelek
In a hot wok or deep pan set over high heat add 2 tbsp avocado oil, followed by your chilis, onion, shallots, tomatoes and garlic cloves. Char them until the edges are browned. Remove from stove. Transfer to a blender or food processor.
Blend on high until the ingredients are grounded finely.
Pour the ingredients into the same wok or pan (I would recommend doing this outdoors on a portable stovetop to prevent inhaling hot chili smoke which can lead to a coughing fest!)
Bring the liquid to a boil and add ½ cup avocado oil, sugar, salt and chicken powder. Stir to mix. Allow this to simmer on low heat for 10 minutes uncovered.
Allow this to cool and transfer to a mason jar. Serve as a condiment with your favourite dish! Store refrigerated up to 6 days or freeze for up to 5-6 months.
Give it a try!
Well I hope you give my Sambal Oelek recipe a try! It always excites me when you guys make my recipes and I hope this is one you try.
Thanks for visiting my blog! If you enjoyed this sambal oelek garlic chili paste, please share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture if you've made my recipe and tag me on Instagram @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories so I can share your creation in my stories with credits to you!
Made this recipe and loved it?
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Take care,
Christie
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Very Spicy Sambal Oelek (20-minute. Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 70 grams bird’s eye red chilies For LESS spicy version: use larger red chilis that look like jalapenos
- 70 grams bird’s eye green chilies For LESS spicy version: use larger green chilis that look like jalapenos
- 260 grams tomatoes I used cherry tomatoes for a sweeter flavour
- 2 shallots halved
- 1 small yellow onion sliced
- 1 bulb garlic peeled
- ½ cup avocado oil for later
- 4 tbsp white granulated sugar
- ½ tbsp salt
- 3 tsp chicken bouillon powder omit if vegan
Instructions
- In a hot wok or deep pan set over high heat add 2 tbsp avocado oil, followed by your chilis, onion, shallots, tomatoes and garlic cloves. Char them until the edges are browned. Remove from stove. Transfer to a blender or food processor.
- Blend on high until the ingredients are grounded finely.
- Pour the ingredients into the same wok or pan (I would recommend doing this outdoors on a portable stovetop to prevent inhaling hot chili smoke which can lead to a coughing fest!)
- Bring the liquid to a boil and add ½ cup avocado oil, sugar, salt and chicken powder. Stir to mix. Allow this to simmer on low heat for 10 minutes uncovered.
- Allow this to cool and transfer to a mason jar. Serve as a condiment with your favourite dish!
NOTES
Always had a jar of this hot sauce in the fridge! Love the addition of chicken powder to the sambal olek... gonna have to try this recipe!
My husband and I love hot sauce!! I definitely need to try this one, especially since I make our dishes less spicy for the girls; then my husband and I can make our as spicy as we want!
This is the little dish I always see on the table at ramen places right?! PS- I love your tip for cooking it outdoors to reduce indoor air pollution!!
Thanks Rosemary! At the ramen places, they probably serve a chili oil that is similar to this but Sambal Oelek contains tomatoes and chicken powder sometimes 🙂
That was a great tip for using jalapenos without the seeds to help tone down the heat so I can serve this to my whole family!
Hi Christie! I am making this recipe and I have noticed that in the list of ingredients you ask for 1 bulb od garlic! Is that 1 clove or the whole bulb? If so that is a lot of garlic! Can you please verify this for me. Much thanks!
Hi Sharron! It's the whole bulb so that would be about 8 cloves of garlic. The garlic gives the sambal that delicious garlickly flavour so lots is needed 🙂