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.
Tamari is a kind of dark, rich soy sauce produced mainly in the Chūbu region of Japan. Tamari is considered the closest thing to the original soy sauce, which was a watered-down extension of fermented miso paste. Tamari is generally thicker than soy sauce and has a slightly richer, more balanced flavor.
Generally wheat-free, tamari is a favorite of people on a gluten-free diet.
Recipe: Crispy Sweet And Sour Tofu (VeganYumYum)
Recipe: Vegan Sausage Chili With Apples And Black Beans (VeganYumYum)
When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press.
Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place.
To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases.
You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic.
To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like.
If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.
Unlike champagne and asiago cheese (and scores of other foods and drinks), which must be made in a certain area to be considered the real thing (and labeled as such), Dijon mustard does not have to be made in Dijon, France.
In fact, most of the world's Dijon mustard is not made in Dijon, France.
So what makes a Dijon a Dijon? Well, all mustard is made by mixing ground mustard seeds (white, yellow, brown, or black) with vinegar, water, grape must, and other liquids. What makes a mustard a "Dijon mustard" is the use of wine must and white wine which -- in combination with brown and/or black mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon and other spices and herbs -- give Dijon mustard its distinctive tangy flavor.
Reference: What does "emulsify" mean?
Recipe: Fettucine With Salmon, Lentils, Mustard And Cream
Recipe: Grilled Herb-Mustard Chicken Breasts
Recipe: Superfantastic Brussels Sprouts (VeganYumYum)
what you should know
A cheap, versatile slab of pork with marbled fat that helps keep it moist when cooked, Boston butt refers to a usually boneless cut taken from the shoulder.
high cotton Boston butt is decidedly not high on the hog. But because it's so fatty, it's the cut of choice for smoked and barbecued pulled pork. The fat keeps the meat so tender that, after hours and hours of cooking, it can be pulled into shreds with your bare hands.
two p's Boston butt also holds up well to braising and slow roasting, as in the Puerto Rican pernil and the Italian porchetta.
memphis leg Also called "pork butt" and "Boston blade roast," Boston butt is not so popular in Massachusetts and is not from the pig's rear. So what's up with the name? In 18th century America, cheap cuts of meat were stored in barrels called "butts."
what you need
Every barbecue lover has a favorite barbecue book. One of ours is Peace, Love & Barbecue, by Mike Mills (but not this one). All you need to know about the book is in the subtitle: Recipe, Secrets, Tall Tales and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue.
After an informal poll of readers, Chip's settled on either Weber's One-Touch Gold Charcoal Grill or the Smokey Mountain bullet smoker. Thoughts?
Meanwhile, Brys is entering his second week of Big Green Egg ownership. (Initial reports are positive. More soon.)
When we're craving barbecued pulled pork but are feeling lazy, we turn to the slow cooker. We honestly can't say whether there's much of a difference between various slow cookers, but we can vouch for this Hamilton Beach 4-quart cooker.
what you do
The classic treatment for a Boston butt is to cook it until it's tender enough to be pulled apart with your fingers and covered in barbecue sauce. Add some fruit and spices and make Coconut & Lime's smoky mango pulled pork.
If you can manage to resist eating it all and have some leftovers of either, try a pulled pork and black bean burrito.
If you have a grill or smoker (and some time on your hands), slow cooking a smoked pork shoulder in dry rub is a low-key (and yet somehow thrilling) way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
In Italy, you might use a pork shoulder to make porchetta, a butterflied pork shoulder stuffed with anise, rosemary and garlic.
Back when cooking was done around the glow of a warm fireplace, braising meant sticking whatever it was you were going to eat in the embers of the fire and leaving it there until it was done. These days, to braise means to cook in a little liquid, usually over a relatively long period of time.
To braise, you need a pot with a well fitting lid -- think Dutch oven or tightly covered sauté pan, something that can work both on the stovetop and in the oven. A heavy pan (like enameled cast-iron or stainless steel) is good, too, since it evenly distributes the heat through the food and is less likely to scorch on the bottom.
Braised meats are often seared first in oil or butter. Then, aromatics, spices, vegetables and some cooking liquid -- wine, broth, water -- are often added. The pot can either stay on the stovetop or go into the oven. Leaner meats like pork chops and chicken breasts usually braise for less time on the stovetop. Fattier, more flavorful cuts go into the oven and cook longer.
Braised vegetables are usually started off with a quick sauté in butter or olive oil. The liquid is added, then the pot is usually covered and the vegetable cooked on the stovetop for however long. Any vegetable can be braised, but greens are an usually good choice.
