The Indonesian Sambal Starter Guide

If you've found our Indonesian recipes — ikan bakar, ayam penyet, nasi goreng, sambal fried rice — this guide gives you the foundation underneath all of them: the sambals, the pantry, and the technique that make Indonesian food taste the way it should.

You don't need a specialist shop or 40 ingredients to start. You need to understand a few core things well. That's what's here.

Sambal is not "chilli sauce." That's the single most useful thing to understand.

Most supermarket chilli sauces are built on vinegar, water, and heat — they add spice. Sambal is an Indonesian condiment and cooking base built on flavour: chilli character, aromatics (garlic, shallot, lemongrass, galangal), and umami depth from ingredients like terasi (shrimp paste). In a huge number of Indonesian dishes, sambal is the flavour base you build the whole plate on.

Sambal Oelek — the foundation. Pure chilli, salt, sometimes a little vinegar. The building block you stir into stir-fries, marinades, and sauces. If you buy one sambal, buy this.

Sambal Goreng — the everyday one. Aromatics and chilli cooked down into a rich, savoury, slightly sweet sambal that works on almost anything: rice, noodles, eggs, grilled meat and fish.

Sambal Terasi / Bali — the aromatic one. Built around terasi (shrimp paste) for deep umami. The flavour people mean when they say a dish "tastes properly Indonesian."

Tip: start mild and build. You can always add heat; you can't take it out.

You can cook most of our recipes with these. Everything here keeps well.

• Sambal oelek — chilli base
• Kecap manis — sweet, thick Indonesian soy sauce (nasi goreng needs this)
• Terasi / belacan — shrimp paste for umami depth
• Tamarind paste — sourness that balances rich dishes
• Lemongrass (fresh or paste)
• Galangal (dried or paste) — peppery, not ginger
• Dried kaffir lime leaves — citrus aroma
• Palm sugar (gula jawa) — caramel depth
• Coconut oil — the traditional cooking fat
• Jasmine or long-grain rice — the foundation

On each recipe, our "What you'll need" box links to these so you can stock up in one go.

Sambal Fried Rice (15 min) — the fastest way to taste why sambal matters. Uses day-old rice, sambal oelek, kecap manis, egg.

Sambal Scrambled Eggs (10 min) — the gateway dish. Soft-scramble eggs, fold sambal through at the end, serve on toast or rice.

Ikan Bakar — Indonesian grilled fish for the weekend. Works on a BBQ, grill pan, or oven.

• More recipes — ayam penyet, nasi goreng, lalapan and more.
• In the UK? Chef Yossie's handmade Sambal Goreng ships UK-wide.
• Outside the UK? Use the pantry list above to stock your local kitchen.

Terima kasih — thank you for cooking with us.