Sambal Oelek is an uncooked sambal that is made by many South East Asian families. Salty, tangy and spicy, this Indonesian sauce is a great dipping side and makes even plain white jasmine rice taste good!
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Sambal Oelek is a delicious and easy recipe: it is made with only 3 ingredients in a few minutes but SO full of flavor!
- Versatile: this fresh chili paste goes with everything, as we can see in this long list of recipes with sambal oelek. It's scrumptious used on its own as a dipping sauce, added to marinades or mixed with mayonnaise to make creamy sambal aioli! It makes even a bowl of simple pandan rice or fried rice delicious!
- Keeps for a while: you can store in for up to a week in the fridge, so it's a good make ahead meal-prep recipe.
- Good for you in moderation: Chili peppers are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. They have been linked to several health benefits, including improved digestion, higher metabolism and longer lifespans!
What is Sambal Oelek?
Oelek, sometimes spelt as Ulek, is often thought to mean mortal and pestle. Whilst not 100% true, this classic Indonesian chili paste is traditionally pounded with a stone mortar and pestle but, these days, time-pressed cooks usually just blitz it up in the blender!
Now Indonesia (and Malaysia and Singapore) has 100s of sambals. Some are cooked and some are uncooked; each uses slightly different ingredients. Sambal oelek is basically a fresh sambal in that the chili paste is not cooked (saving you a lot of time, really!)
Note: if you really want to use sambal oelek, but don't have the ingredients on hand, here are some good sambal substitutes.
🥘 Ingredients
You will need:
- red chilies: remember to use big red chilies and not small bird's eye chili (chili padi) or your chili will be very spicy! Red jalapeños or cayenne peppers are a good choice. Remove the seeds and membranes of the red chili peppers to make it less hot- you can control the heat level by adjusting the number of seeds left in. (More seeds = a hotter sauce.) Do not use red pepper flakes.
- vinegar: I use white rice vinegar but lime juice, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar works too. (If using lime juice, calamansi is what we usually use in Southeast Asia.)
- coarse salt
📖 Variations & Substitutes
- Garlicky: Peel garlic cloves and pound/ blend it with the red chilies to make a chili garlic paste. (It's a good substitute for Sriracha!)
- Belacan: Toast some fermented shrimp belacan and pound it with the chilies.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Wash and cut the chilies into smaller pieces. (The smaller you cut them, the easier it is to blend.)
- Pound them with the salt.
Note: the seeds make the chili paste hotter, so remove as many as possible.
Do NOT touch your eyes after handling the chilies or they will BURN!
3. Drizzle the vinegar as you pound, till everything has formed a thick paste.
Note: it took me 10 minutes to pound 3 large chilies, which makes about 3 Tablespoons (50g/ 1.76 oz.) The more chilies you pound, the longer it will take. Don't try to pound too many at once or it will be counterproductive!
Note: if you're making this simple hot sauce in a blender or food processor, just cut the chilies (with a scissors or knife) then blend with the the vinegar and salt. Do not over-process as the ground chili sauce has a bit of a chunky texture. It should not be totally smooth!
Also, don't put your face directly above the container when you open it as the spicy fumes are no joke. Once, they stung my arm so badly, it hurt for a week! (And this was just the fumes- there was no direct contact!)
🥡 How to Store
Store the ground chili peppers paste in the fridge for 1 week in a sterilised glass jar.
🥗 Other Spicy Asian Recipes
Enjoyed this easy Sambal Oelek Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this spicy red peppers dip, please consider supporting it by buying me a coffee! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!
Sambal Oelek Chili Paste
Equipment
- mortar and pestle OR blender
- Scissors OR knife and chopping board
Ingredients
- 3 big red chilies (50g/ 1.76 oz) This makes 3 Tablespoons of sambal. Wash, cut into smaller pieces and remove as many seeds as possible. Do NOT touch your eyes after handling chilies!
- 1¼ teaspoon rice wine vinegar Substitute: calamansi lime juice, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- Traditional :Using a mortar and pestle
- Wash, dry and cut the chilies into smaller pieces. (The smaller you cut them, the easier it is to blend.)Note: the seeds make the chili paste hotter, so remove as many as possible.
- Pound them with the salt.
- Drizzle the vinegar as you pound, till everything has formed a thick paste.Note: it took me 10 minutes to pound 3 large chilies, which makes about 3 Tablespoons (50g/ 1.76 oz.) The more chilies you pound, the longer it will take. Don't try to pound too many at once or it will be counterproductive!
Faster: using a blender or food processor
- Cut the chilies (with a scissors or knife) then blend with the the vinegar and salt. Do not over-process as the ground chili sauce has a bit of a chunky texture. It should not be totally smooth!
Notes
Nutrition
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