Sambal: Indonesia's 300 Chilli Sauces

Indonesia has over 300 documented sambal varieties — each island, each region, each family has its own. Sambal is not "hot sauce" — it is the foundational condiment of Indonesian cooking, present at every meal, and its preparation (particularly the grinding in a cobek/mortar) is a core kitchen skill. The base is always chilli, usually with shallot and shrimp paste (terasi), but the variations are infinite: raw (sambal matah from Bali — shallot, lemongrass, chilli, coconut oil, never cooked), cooked (sambal goreng — fried), fermented (sambal terasi — with fermented shrimp paste), sweet (sambal kecap — with sweet soy), and fruit-based (sambal mangga — with green mango).

• Thai nam prik (the Thai mortar-made chilli condiment family — same structure, different chillies), Malaysian sambal belacan (the Malay branch — closer to Indonesian than to Thai), Mexican salsa family