Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis:Fried Anchovies with Chillie Sauteed Sauce

Salam,

A sister requested for me to share a local dish recipe, known as "Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis" which is famously accompanied in our infamous Nasi Lemak (coconut rice) dish. Nasi Lemak is a fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk (added a few ingredient according on personal taster), roasted peanuts (for crunch), cold cucumber slices (to cool down the 'sambal' heat), boiled/fried eggs, and many variety of sambal. There's shrimp sambal, chicken sambal, squid sambal and the most common sambal of all, thin dried anchovies.

The Sambal, could either make or break the Nasi Lemak. It is a serious business making the right amount of sweet, hot and moist to it, its almost ridiculous. My friend who is pregnant, had a 'Nasi Lemak' craving which lasted MONTHS because the 'sambal' was not the right taste. Yes, it is THAT serious. Some likes it, with a lot of onions, some like too hot, some like it with a bit of sweetness to it, some just hit it all the way out the park-it is just perfect- not too sweet, not too hot, not to sour....just right. Some are just 'anal' about sambal, they took out all the squid/anchovy/beef/chicken and leave just the sambal bare, and serve fried crispy anchovies/fried chicken/fried cow-lung (it sounds disgusting, but its YUM!) on the side.

I had taste MANY nasi lemak sambal and i would like to think i'm fussy with my sambal. It needs to be a balance between hot and sweet, with the right texture without overpowering the whole dish (am i being a bit too technical with this?LOL-i doubt anthony bourdain was ever this serious about food). Anyway, my point is, my mother hands down makes the best sambal that the thought of it, makes me salivate (my mother is in Cranfield, UK-and her sambal which was prepared for me before she left, had already run out. THE WHOLE TUB) i am seriously not even biased. My mother had her share cooking 'Nasi Lemak', while my brother sell them at his stall at night, night after night, Alhamdulillah it always comes home finished. Okay, i'll stop rambling now. To my sister, sarah (unsettled soul) here is my mother's sambal tumis recipe, which you could mix it with fried fish/fried boiled eggs/fried chicken if you're ever just bored with anchovies.

A good amount for 3-4 people

Ingredient:

6-7 Tablespoon Chilli paste (Dried chilli-removed seed and soak-and blended)

2 Onions (courly pounded/blend)

4 cloves of Garlic (coarsely pounded/blend)

2 slices of Asam Keping (Tamarind Peel)

Salt and Sugar to taste

(my mother puts in 3 tablespoon of sugar for a dark and caramelized sambal)

5 tablespoon of oil

Method:

1. Heat oil, and add in your onions and garlic. sauteed it untill fragrant, and onion becomes transparent

2. Add in your chilli paste, and cook it untill the oil separates from the chilli (it means the chilli is cooked)

3. Put in Asam Keping, if it looks too dry, add a little water

4. Add sugar and salt to taste, and let it caramelized. (don't forget to taste)

5. can be refrigerated for a month, and be mixed with your fried mackerel, fried calamari, fried boiled eggs, fried chicken and not to forget, your fried crispy anchovies. (or even fried eggplant)

enjoy!~

here more variations of dishes we can make out of sambal:

pic: Shrimp sambal

pic: sambal with calamari

pic: fried fish with sambal, my ultimate favorite with white rice, and sweet soy sauce. *salivate*LOL

Love+Peace,

H