Sambal Kecap: The Sweet Soy Chilli Condiment

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Kecap manis, sweet Indonesian soy sauce
• 3 Bird's eye chillies, sliced into thin rounds
• 2 Shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 Lime, squeezed

Method

1. 1
   Pour the kecap manis into a small serving bowl or shallow dish. The sauce should pool evenly — it moves slowly, with the viscosity of a light syrup.
2. 2
   Scatter the sliced bird's eye chilli and sliced shallot directly into the kecap manis. This is where the dish lives or dies: the chilli must be sliced, not crushed, and the shallot must be sliced, not minced — both elements must retain their raw bite and structural presence in the sauce, not dissolve into it.
3. 3
   Squeeze the lime over the assembled bowl. The acid should be perceptible as a distinct top note when the condiment is tasted — neither buried by the kecap nor dominant over it.