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This sambal is a traditional Javanese sambal that goes really well with fragrant steamed rice such as nasi uduk or nasi lemak. Sometime, you will find this sambal in the supermarket with its older Dutch spelling “sambal oelek”.
Serves 4-10 people
- 10 chili padi
- 1 Holland/Fresno chili
- 2-3 medium shallots
- 1 tsp dried shrimp paste/belacan
- ½ cooking (green) tomato
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Heat oil in a skillet in medium heat.
- Cut the Holland chili into 1-inch length. Peel and half each shallots. press the belacan into a disk.
- Place all ingredients on the skillet. Place the flat side of the tomato down. Cover the skillet.
- When you start to hear the ingredients sizzling, shake the skillet gently. Do this for 3-4 minutes, checking once a minute to make sure that the ingredients are not burnt.
- Flip the tomato, Holland chili, belacan, and shallots. Stir the chili padi. Cover for another 2-3 minutes.
- Place the ingredients into a mortar and crush them with the mortar until there are no large chunks. Make sure that the chilis are well pounded.
- Serve with fragrant rice (such as nasi uduk or nasi lemak).
Instead of pestle-and-mortar, a food processor with a small bowl can be used too. Pulse repeatedly until there are no large chunks left.
If you can’t find a cooking tomato, a fruit tomato will do too. However, the chili might become too watery.
A peanut oil is supposed to produce better flavor, though we have not tried it. (It is also very unhealthy.)
Acknowledgment: This recipe comes from Ying’s housemaid, Neng Neng, who is an Indonesian.
In Indonesia, “nasi” means steamed rice (and so far, I still have no idea what “uduk” means). In Java, cooking steamed rice with coconut milk is pretty common to produce a velvety-textured steamed rice. Typically, aromatics are added to add allure to the rice dish. In this dish, the two all-important aromatics are lemongrass and daun salam (Indonesian bay leaves). A version more popular in Malaysia and Singapore replaces daun salam with a large-ish piece of ginger and is called nasi lemak (roughly “fat rice”—due to the velvety texture introduced by the fat in the coconut milk). Nasi uduk (and nasi lemak) is eaten with almost anything that is usually eaten with steamed white rice. However, I feel that it best fit curry dishes, including rendang. In Jakarta, it is typically served with fried chicken, fried tempe, a slice of cucumber or two, fresh lemon basil, fried shallots, and sambal (the chinese version may also include pieces of char siew or roasted pork).
Serves 4-6 people
- 2 cups (400 g) jasmine rice
- 3 thick stalks fresh lemongrass, knotted
- 10 whole dried daun salam leaves
- 1¾ cups water
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tsp salt
 Cooking nasi uduk
- Place the rice in a medium saucepan (2-liter saucepan). Fill the pot halfway with cold water and stir the rice around gently with your hand to wash away the starch. If any hulls or small twigs float to the surface, discard them. Drain the water away. Repeat the rinsing another 3 times. It does not matter if the water is not completely clear by the final rinse; slight cloudiness is fine. Leave the rinsed rice in the pot.
- Cut the bottom 2 cm of the lemongrass stalk (the brown part) away. Also cut the top 5 cm (the green part) off. Smash the remaining lemongrass with the side of a chef’s knife. If the lemongrass is long enough, tie them into a knot for easy removal later on.
- Add the lemongrass, daun salam, cooking water, coconut milk, and salt to the rinsed rice. Stir well to combine.
- Place the pot over high heat and bring the liquid to boil, stirring constantly with spatula to prevent the rice at the bottom of the pan from scorching. Allow the rice to boil for half a minute and reduce the fire to the low. Cover the pot and leave it cooking for another 15 minutes. Do not be tempted to remove the lid during this time so that the cooking steam will not escape.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for another 10 minutes, still covered.
- Open the pot and discared the lemongrass and daun salam. Gently mix the rice a little bit to distribute the aromatic flavors.
- Transfer the rice to a deep serving bowl and fluff it with fork, lifting it into a peaked mound. Serve hot or warm. If the rice is not served immediately, keep it covered with aluminium foil to keep the heat trapped.
Make sure that the daun salam is dried. A fresh daun salam does not produce as much aromatic as the dried ones.
To make nasi lemak, replace daun salam with a peeled 5 cm length of fresh ginger.
Acknowledgment: This recipe is a fluffier version of the one found in Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland. Contrary to his recipe, daun salam is not optional! 
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