Eat Your Green

Indonesians and Malaysians love their sambal, a chile-based condiment that's served with nearly every meal. There are tens, perhaps a hundred, types of sambal - from sambal buah (fruit sambal) to that well-loved staple of the Malaysian table, sambal belacan (shrimp paste sambal). And for each type there are as many variations as there are sambal cooks.

Most of the sambals we run across in Malaysia are a shade of red, made with fresh or dried red chilies. On Sumatra, however, we consumed more than our fair share of sambal hijau (lit. 'green' sambal), made with the curled green chilies called lado hijau that are heaped high next to their red cousins in every market.

The sambal hijau served at a nasi Padang shop in Payakumboh, a pleasant little town with a darned good market about a 45-minute drive from Bukittingi, got our attention with its in-your-face spicy sourness. Made with heaps of cilantro, garlic, green chilies, and belimbing (a tiny, tart, and green relative of what we know in the States as sweet star fruit) ground to a chunky paste, it was the perfect foil to the rich chicken rendang, coconuty gulai (thin curries), and chile paste-rubbed grilled fish for which the eatery is famous.

 

The sambal hijau we supped the next day, at a nasi Kapau stall (the women of Kapau, a village outside of Bukittingi, are known for their way with chilies, turmeric, and coconut milk) on the middle level of Bukittingi's endless market, was a different animal altogether. Green chilies were prevalent, but in this version they were cooked, along with onion, to a sweet softness. Tartness was present, but it came from lime rather than belimbing.

A prevalent flavor in this version of sambal hijau was bitterness, from the addition of rimbang - a local variety of Thai pea eggplant said to be good for the eyes (but only if eaten in odd numbers). Cooked to barely tender, the rimbang gave a slight 'pop' under pressure from the teeth, and their bitter bite added interest to the silky chilies and onions. We ended up asking for seconds, and then thirds.

Find the bright green sambal at Rumah Makan Saraso, 130 Jalan Sokaerno Hatta, Payakumboh, Sumatra. The other can be found at Nasi Kapau Linda, middle level, Bukittingi Market, Sumatra.

(For more Indonesian - and some Burmese - recipes this week, see the Creative Cook).

Sambal Hijau with Rimbang

Sambal is wide open to interpretation. Use whatever kind of green chilies you can find (but not green bell peppers). This sambal should feature the flavor, not just the heat, of green chile, but it should also be zippy. That said, remove the chilies' seeds if fiery foods frighten (keep in mind that fire will fade if you store your sambal in the fridge for a couple of days). If your chilies are mild, perk the sambal up with the addition of an incendiary variety like Thai bird chilies. Taste as you go, and be sure not to cook the eggplants to a mush. This sambal would normally be eaten with rice, alongside a curry or grilled fish or rendang. It's also - very inauthentically - delicious stirred into scrambled eggs just as they finish cooking.

5 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pound (about 500 grams) large green chilies, seeds removed if you wish, roughly chopped

5-10 small fiery green chilies, such as Thai bird chilies, finely chopped (optional)

salt to taste

a generous handful of pea eggplant, washed and left whole

lime juice to taste

1. Heat the oil in a skillet to medium-high and saute the onions and garlic just until they've begun to color. Add the chopped large chilies, stir-fry for a couple of minutes, and then lower the heat a notch or two. Continue to cook stirring often, until the chiles and onions are soft and sweet. Taste and add fiery small chilies if you like, then cook for a couple minutes more. Add salt to taste.

2. At medium-low heat, add the eggplants. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are just tender. Remove from heat and add lime juice to taste.

3. Allow to cool and serve at room temperature. Sambal will keep in the fridge for about five days, but heat and sourness will fade (add more lime juice before serving).

Comments

[Jem]

Yeah, good old Minangkabau folks with their chillies. Have you been to Negeri Sembilan?The people there originated from Minangkabau too but have been here for centuries. Some variation in cooking but otherwise, the "piping hot" cooking is still intact.

[Austin]

Wow... The green stuff looks amazing--like Indonesian pesto! Would be nice if you could show a pic of the chili in question; as you're very well aware chilies vary incredibly from region to region in SE Asia.

The second sambal looks similar to the northern Thai dish nam phrik num, which also sometimes employs grilled makheua phuang (pea eggplants).

Austin

[Robyn]

Jem - we've only been to Seremban, for beef noodles. But Negeri is on our radar. Hoping to make it down there soon.

Austin - the downside of film (instead of digital). Photos are not always easily to hand when you want them. I know we've got a pic of the chilies somewhere but wading through a pile of slides put me off. The chilies are long, thinnish, and curly. I've never seen anything like them in Thailand, or anywhere in the greater Mekong area, for that matter.

[Pepy]

Hmmm looks tempeting
Here in Canada, we call belimbing as bilimbi. I can't find the fresh bilimbi for purchase, I only can find bilimbi frozen which is imporetd from the Phillipines.

Anyway. Thank you for sharing. Let me link your site please.