Description
Description Mastering sambal tumis is one of the rites of passage that almost every young Malay cook has to go through. It's essentially a condiment, a cooked chile paste that pairs well with every carb, from steamed tapioca to fried noodles to plain toast. It's primarily made from ground chiles and onions, sometimes starring a supporting aromatic actor like ginger or pandan. Its simplicity is the main draw, though it can also be a base for various proteins: whole cleaned ikan bilis dried anchovies, prawns, and squid are common additions. Fried tofu is a delicious and cheap option, and some folks even just use sliced onions to bulk up the sambal into a meal. However, it's best known as a major component of nasi lemak, a dish so popular all throughout Malaysia that it's earned the title of our unofficial national dish. Making sambal tumis teaches the cook two of the core concepts in Malay cooking: tumis and pecah minyak. Learning and understanding these two concepts, especially pecah minyak, is half the battle when cooking many Malay dishes. Sambal tumis basically translates to sauteed chile paste. But as with all cooking, the dish is much more than the sum of its parts. The usual components of sambal tumis are alliums and chiles.
Features