Sambal is a spicy Southeast Asian condiment made, in its simplest form, from chile peppers and salt. A more elaborate sambal may contain onion, lime juice, lemongrass, sugar, garlic, oil and/or vinegar. You will find sambal in a jar or bottle at an Asian food market or in the international aisle at the grocery store.
There are many varieties of sambal. Sambal Oelek is the kind you're most likely to find in the U.S. ("Oelek", "Olek" or "Ulek" refers to the mortar and pestle used to create sambal in Indonesian kitchens.) One Malaysian version, Sambal belacan, is made with shrimp paste. Sambal ikan bilis has dried anchovies in it. Sambal kemiri contains candlenuts.
Generally speaking, any sambal adds a dark, fiery flavor to dishes. A dollop of sambal can enliven some plain rice or a simply cooked piece of meat. For a quick, bright salad dressing, mix together 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons each of lemon juice and capers, and 1/4 teaspoon of sambal oelek.
Recipe: Spicy Turkey Meatball And Cabbage Soup (Cookthink)
Recipe: Sambal-Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Cookthink)
Recipe: Sambal Borscht (Cookthink)
Recipe: Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork In Barbecue Sauce (Cookthink)
Recipe: Quick-Fix Kimchi (Trail of Crumbs)
Or try another of our sambal recipes.
Strip cabbage of its outer leaves; rinse the head well and pat dry.
Now slice the cabbage in half through its tough, fibrous core with a long, sturdy knife.
Cut each half in half again through the core. This will expose the core to make it easy to remove.
Holding each cabbage quarter upright, remove the tough core.
Now you can slice the cabbage into long, thin strips for slaws, salads, soups or stews or thicker strips for braises and sautés.
Fish sauce is a pungent liquid flavoring made from salted, fermented fish. A staple of Southeast Asian cuisines, most varieties are made with anchovies, salt and sugar.
You can usually find fish sauce on the international aisle at the grocery store. If not, you'll certainly find several varieties at any Asian market. (Chinese fish sauce may be labeled fish gravy.) Store fish sauce in the pantry, not in the refrigerator -- the cold air will cause salt crystals to form.
In a pinch, or if you want to make a dish vegetarian, you can substitute soy sauce for fish sauce. Substituting fish sauce for soy sauce is a riskier move. Plenty of people do it, but if you're a casual user of or newcomer to fish sauce, proceed with caution: it's potent.
It takes 10-15 pounds of fish to make 1 liter of fish sauce, so it's not surprising that the dark liquid smells intensely fishy. The flavor, however, is not so much fishy as it is salty, tangy and vinegary. Paired with lime juice and broth, fish sauce creates a bold base for this soups.
Recipe: Broiled Thai Shrimp (Coothink)
Recipe: Beef Pho (Cookthink)
Recipe: Thai Shrimp, Coconut And Mushroom Soup (Cookthink)
Reference: Why is it called Worcestershire sauce? (Cookthink)
Green onions are a milder, versatile alternative to onions. The white parts are great for cooking, but mild enough to work into raw salsas and salads. The green parts work in either, too, but have an almost herbal quality when raw.To prep them, first pull off and discard any soft outer layers. It's best to rinse them after you do this. Cut off the root and and any damaged top green parts and discard them.Now just thinly slice straight across the onion. Thin slices are good to at at the end of cooking, sprinkled over a finished dish, or raw in salads and salsas.Make thicker slices for longer cooking dishes, and when you plan to sauté them first with oil or butter and spices. As with onions, a little salt at the beginning of cooking helps them soften more quickly.For stir-frys and shorter-cooking dishes where the green onion plays a starring role, slice the onions at an angle. The sharp slices look great on the plate (if you're impressed with that sort of thing).
When you want the flavor of ginger to permeate a a sauté , stir-fry, sauce or braise, mince it. For the most ginger flavor, mince it finely and add it toward the end of cooking. Cooking ginger longer mellows its flavor.
We usually start with what we call a "thumb" -- a piece of ginger roughly the size and shape of your thumb. To make the thumb easier to peel, start by cutting off any small protruding parts. You can peel and mince these separately.
We like to peel ginger with a spoon. Because a spoon is dull, it easily takes off the soft skin and leaves most of the aromatic flesh behind.
Slice the peeled thumb lengthwise into planks, thick or thin depending on how fine you want your mince to be. After you slice away one or two planks, roll the thumb over on the flat side for more stability.
Stack the planks and slice them lengthwise into matchsticks.
Now just gather the matchsticks together, rotate them 90 degrees, and slice them crosswise to complete the mince. For a finer mince, just run your knife across the pile a few times, chopping as you go.
Vinegar is basically fermented wine. You know how that forgotten bottle of red takes on a thin, shrill quality when you neglect to drink it in a timely fashion? It's on its way to becoming vinegar. (The French word for vinegar, vinaigre, literally means "sour wine.")
Made since the Gallo-Roman era, vinegar gots its official stamp of approval when vinegarmaking was declared an official occupation in 1580 by Henri IV. It's a pretty simple process: vinegar is made using a bacterial process in which naturally fermented wine is converted into a weak acetic acid that lends vinegar its sour taste.
Vinegar quality depends on the quality of the ingredients from which it is made. There are many types of vinegar, which can be made from wine, spirits, Champagne, rice or honey. It can be infused with tarragon, raspberry and even rose petals.
Reference: The Vinegar Institute's FAQ
Recipe: Quick Pickled Cucumbers and Sweet Onions
Recipe: Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
