Instant Sambal, My Savior

Sambal. As an Indonesian, I very am familiar with sambal.

For some people, sambal is a must in every meal. It feels as if lacking something is there is no sambal. Even though I'm bad at handling spicy food, sometimes it feels a bit weird when there is no sambal on certain dishes.

Sambal for simply is chili sauce of chili paste. It's not hard to make sambal, to be honest. Every house usually makes its sambal for their meal. But now, you can buy ready used or instant sambal in the marketplace.

Does instant sambal taste different from homemade sambal? Well, not really. It tastes just slightly a bit different I guess. However, it's still sambal for sure.

Sambal isn't just part of a meal for me. It gives sine texture to our food, not only adding a spicy and slightly oily taste.

So, is sambal essential then? For me, it depends on the food. Sometimes, I feel a bit weird when eating certain meals without sambal.

The sambal that I've just bought. Photo by restyu.

By the way, I buy my sachets sambal in minimarket nearby. It cost Rp16.500 for 10 sachets. Each sachet contains 20 grams of sambal. I choose sambal pedas serbaguna this time. To be honest, it's my first time trying it. I usually choose sambal bawang or sambal terasi.

Fried food and fritters are a good combo with sambal. I prefer to eat my fried chicken with sambal rather than ketchup. It gives a more aromatic and spicy taste when I take a bite.

Enjoying gorengan and a bit of sambal. Photo by restyu.

When I don't get any green bird eyes chili for my gorengan or my fritters, sambal is my answer. It gives a different spicy taste. But, not gonna lie it's also a good combination.

I don't only use instant sambal as complementary to my food. I often use it in my cooking too. Whenever I'm lazy to make proper sambal for my nasi goreng or orak-arik, readily used sambal is my cheat key.

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Perfect meal as usual: warm rice, fried chicken, and sambal. Photo by restyu.

Not gonna lie, sambal is part of my life. It's always part of an Indonesian dish. Warm rice, side dish, and sambal are more than enough to delight our hunger.

—restyu. 310722.