Sambal Tumis
By TW LimPublished on July 10, 2025
Time
55 minutes
Yield
Makes 2½ cups
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Sambal tumis is a versatile condiment that can be used as a sauce for grilled meat and seafood or served alongside rice dishes. Belacan is a fermented shrimp paste from Malaysia and Indonesia. It is sold as a firm, moist block and is available in some Asian groceries and online. Similar products from Vietnam and Thailand, typically sold in jars and labeled as shrimp paste, can be substituted. Long hot red peppers can be found in Asian groceries. Red serrano or Fresno chiles can be substituted.
Instructions
- Place 10 whole dried arbol chiles in blender and process until finely ground, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and set aside. Add 1⅓ pounds shallots (chopped), 2 to 4 long hot red peppers (stemmed and chopped coarse), 3 Thai chiles (stemmed and sliced thin), 1 (6-inch) piece fresh galangal (peeled and chopped coarse), 7 peeled garlic cloves, and 1 (2-inch) piece fresh turmeric (peeled and chopped coarse) to blender and process to rough paste, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 trimmed lemongrass stalks (halved lengthwise and sliced thin) and continue to process to smooth paste, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Return ground arbols to blender and process to combine, about 30 seconds. (It’s fine if a few chile seeds remain.)
- Transfer paste to large Dutch oven and add ¾ cup vegetable oil and 1½ tablespoons belacan, crumbled. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until excess liquid evaporates and paste begins to stick to pot, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until rempah darkens slightly and its oil separates out, about 10 minutes longer.
- Add ½ cup tamarind juice concentrate and 3 tablespoons palm sugar, and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and spatula leaves clean trail, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely before using. (Sambal can refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.)
Time
55 minutesYield
Makes 2½ cupsIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Sambal tumis is a spicy and aromatic condiment that most of Singapore eats regularly alongside rice, proteins, and vegetables. The base of it is rempah: a regional paste of alliums, rhizomes, and chiles ground in a mortar or blender and then slowly fried until it concentrates and starts to caramelize. Grinding the rempah components in stages helped each break down so the paste was smooth and balanced. Thoroughly frying it encouraged evaporation so that the paste underwent Maillardization and caramelization, leading to the development of hundreds of new flavor compounds that lay the groundwork for the braise’s complex savor. To turn the rempah into sambal tumis, we mixed it with tangy-sweet tamarind concentrate and sugar (palm is traditional, but dark brown works too), and cooked it until the mixture thickens.
Before You Begin
Sambal tumis is a versatile condiment that can be used as a sauce for grilled meat and seafood or served alongside rice dishes. Belacan is a fermented shrimp paste from Malaysia and Indonesia. It is sold as a firm, moist block and is available in some Asian groceries and online. Similar products from Vietnam and Thailand, typically sold in jars and labeled as shrimp paste, can be substituted. Long hot red peppers can be found in Asian groceries. Red serrano or Fresno chiles can be substituted.
Instructions
- Place 10 whole dried arbol chiles in blender and process until finely ground, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and set aside. Add 1⅓ pounds shallots (chopped), 2 to 4 long hot red peppers (stemmed and chopped coarse), 3 Thai chiles (stemmed and sliced thin), 1 (6-inch) piece fresh galangal (peeled and chopped coarse), 7 peeled garlic cloves, and 1 (2-inch) piece fresh turmeric (peeled and chopped coarse) to blender and process to rough paste, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 trimmed lemongrass stalks (halved lengthwise and sliced thin) and continue to process to smooth paste, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Return ground arbols to blender and process to combine, about 30 seconds. (It’s fine if a few chile seeds remain.)
- Transfer paste to large Dutch oven and add ¾ cup vegetable oil and 1½ tablespoons belacan, crumbled. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until excess liquid evaporates and paste begins to stick to pot, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until rempah darkens slightly and its oil separates out, about 10 minutes longer.
- Add ½ cup tamarind juice concentrate and 3 tablespoons palm sugar, and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and spatula leaves clean trail, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely before using. (Sambal can refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.)
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