Monday 29 May 2017

Sambal Gesek? Sambal Lonte? Sambal Totok?


I saw a post on ready made Sambal Totok and I was curious as to what sort of sambal it was. So I did a search. 

Apparently, it is a sambal made of chilies, onions, garlic, belacan (prawn paste) and ikan bilis (anchovies). All the ingredients are fried in oil before pounding. Then I realized that I have seen a recipe like that before.

When I got home, I opened the book Senangnya Memasak Sambal & Sos. There I found two recipes.

1. Sambal Lonte - where the ingredients are fried first and then pounded. But ikan bilis was not an ingredient and;

2.  Sambal Gesek - same ingredients including ikan bilis but ingredients are not fried.

It looks like sambal totok is a combination of the two. Since I was curious, I decided make this sambal.


I did not follow the recipe exactly and used what I had in the fridge. The ikan bilis was fried separately while the other ingredients were fried together.

Then chilies, onions, garlic and belacan were fried until wilted and the belacan smelt wonderful.


After that the ingredients (except ikan bilis) were pounded using my mortar and pestle. I was pleasantly surprised that the fried ingredients were easier to pound compared to uncooked.

There was none of the juices from the onions and chilies splashing everywhere and none of the ingredients jumped out of the mortar. Hey, I like this! 

Not only that, the sambal had a more intense aroma and flavor.


Once the ingredients are completely pounded, the ikan bilis is added and pounded briefly. Since the sambal was already salty, I did not add any salt. The sambal was finished with a squeeze of lime. 

I would say that this is a very tasty sambal, the secret being the frying of the ingredients. Well, I am glad I discovered this sambal.

Sambal Totok
Recipe source : Adapted from Senangnya Memasak Sambal dan Sos (page 15)

Ingredients :
- 4 red chilies, sliced
- 1 green chilli, sliced
- 4 green cili padi
- 5 shallots, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 tsp belacan
- 1 handful of ikan bilis
- lime juice to taste

Method :
1. Fry ikan bilis until crispy and set aside.
2. In another pan, heat oil and fry chilies, shallots, garlic and belacan until wilted and the belacan is aromatic (it does not take very long).
3. Transfer into a mortar and pestle and pound until fairly fine.
4. Add fried ikan bilis and pound briefly.
5. Season with a squeeze of lime.

30 comments:

  1. This is a very appetizing dish.. reminds me.. must remind my sister to make nasi lemak one of these days... she normally fries the ikan bilis first before mixing them to the sambal..

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    Replies
    1. Nasi lemak is on my to-cook list hah..hah...

      Delete
  2. That looks gorgeous! I think it would be nicer, fried first...the way you did it. Poor Claire in the US, been saying she would want to eat nasi lemak for a few days already. LOL!!!

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    Replies
    1. Claire misses local food badly hee..hee..

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  3. My, so many names for sambal....very confusing. I can imagine this to be a very tasty sambal though I shouldn't be thinking of sambal now that I'm coughing badly. All the yummy Ramadan fare is here and I'm unwell...haiz :'(

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear. I hope that you recover soon before Ramadan is over so that you can hit the Ramadan food bazaar trail!

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  4. This one makes me drooling hahaha...
    A simple menu like this sambal surely make me tambah nasi especially during sahur (pre-dawn meal) :)

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    Replies
    1. hee..hee... Just eat with rice also very nice. No need lauk :)

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  5. I see so many types of chillies - red, green, big and small - in your frying pan/wok. Must be very spicy. Enough kick for you. I can only take a tiny bit.

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    Replies
    1. It was not that spicy because I did not add too many cili padi :)

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  6. Now these sambals are making me very excited to even copy down.
    It reminds me of all the pots of different sambal served in the Warongs at Yogyakarta. They add a lot of pounded fried fishes or even sotong. The smell and spicy hotness sent me to heavens.

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  7. Whatever the name, sambal is great for added flavour and taste. I like anchovies in my sambal for that texture. Could smell the fragrance in your kitchen. ^^

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    Replies
    1. It is so appetizing and made me eat more.

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  8. wah, i've not heard of any of these specific types of sambal ... now i wanna try them all! :D my favourite childhood sambal is the always-tasty sambal belacan ;)

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    Replies
    1. I only knew one type of sambal until I discovered that there are many more. It's a great discovery I would say :)

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  9. I like dis sambal...satu lagi nama dia sabal goreng hehee..sebab suma bahan digoreng dulu

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    Replies
    1. Oh..sambal goreng... Lagi sedap bila digoreng. Bertambah-tambah makan hee..hee..

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  10. MyMIL version, the ingredients just ikan bilis, asam jawa,bawang merah, bawang putih and chili Padi, but no need to fry, just tumbuk2 all that and the name is sambal kelesek, from neg sembilan.

    Tapi you punya sambal lagi mengancamlah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your MIL version pun sedap. Lagi senang, no need to masak.

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  11. I have no luck with chilli, though I would love to have them, but I get sore throat once I eat them, so I can smell and admire this dish from far

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In that case better don't eat chilies if your throat is sensitive.

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  12. Where sambal is concerned I am an absolute novice.

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    Replies
    1. I guess it might be a bit stinky for you hee..hee..

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  13. Can sapu multiple bowls of rice with this sambal alone, dangerous stuff @_@

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  14. Your sambal looks very delicious. Yums! Just the sambal alone, can eat with white rice or bread.

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