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.
Lemongrass is a Southeast Asian grass that has a lemony aroma and flavor thanks to its high content of essential citral oil.
Commonly used in Indonesian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai cooking, the tough, fibrous grass can be bought fresh, frozen (usually minced), or dried and ground into a powder. It can either be finely chopped and integrated into soups and other preparations, or chopped into sticks and bruised and used to flavor dishes while they cook, then removed before serving.
It also makes a nice herb tea -- just add hot water, steep, and serve.
Recipe: Southeast Asian Chicken And Cabbage Soup (Cookthink)
Recipe: Rasa Malaysia's Malaysian Chicken Satay (Cookthink)
Reference: How to prep lemongrass (Cookthink)
Southeast Asian shrimp paste is made from salted, fermented, sun-dried, ground shrimp.
Used in small amounts in East and Southeast Asian sauces, soups, curries and rice dishes, shrimp paste has a strong taste of the sea. Its pungent odor mellows with cooking. It's sold jarred or in a solid cake that is brownish in color.
Reference: What does it mean to devein a shrimp? (Cookthink)
Reference: What is fish sauce? (Cookthink)
The word curry was invented by British colonialists in the 18th century. Most likely a bastardization of the Indian word kari (meaning sauce), it refers to a number of saucy dishes flavored with curry powder or curry paste.
The idea of curry began in India. By the beginning of the 18th century, the Dutch and the British were selling standardized curry powders. At the Universal Paris Exhibition of 1889, a curry decree set the composition of curry as having prescribed amounts of tamarind, onion, coriander, chilli pepper, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, pepper, and mustard.
Today, curry powder may also include cloves, cardamon, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, caraway, ajowan seeds, dried basil, mustard seeds, mace, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, saffron or cinnamon. The mix depends on the cook, as curry recipes can be found in the cuisines of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Caribbean.
While there is no rigid definition of "a curry," many restaurants use it as a generic term for sauce-based dishes that can vary in spice content and heat, and can contain meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, coconut milk, onions, fresh ginger, kaffir lime leaves and other ingredients.
Curry powder's flavors fade quickly, and Indian curry powder is ideally made to order depending on the dish. Madras curry powder is named after the southern Indian region from which it comes. Careful if you're not used to it, as it tends to pack a lot more heat.
Recipe: Curried Brussels Sprouts And Sweet Potatoes (cookthink)
Recipe: Red Curry Chicken Breasts (cookthink)
Often referred to as "Indonesian soy sauce," Kecap Manis is a syrupy, dark brown sauce sweetened with palm sugar and seasoned with things like garlic and star anise.
Used as a condiment and for marinating dishes like satay (and ribs), Kecap Manis should be kept in a cool, dry place. Though it's generally a little sweeter than soy sauce, you can use the two interchangeably.
(Image courtesy of FotoosVanRobin.)
A fritter is a catch-all phrase for a little cake-like morsel of food that's traditionally doused in a batter (or chopped up and combined with batter) and deep-fried.
You can eat fritters as a main course, a side, a dessert or a snack. Fritters can be made from just about any main ingredient, but crab, corn or apples are popular ingredients.
The British are particularly fond of drowning unlikely foodstuffs in batter -- pizza, or Mars bars, for example -- and frying the hell out of them. Fish and chips, no stranger to the deep fat fryer themselves, are often accompanied by additional battered fried fritters that can range from pineapples to peas.
