Sambal Oelek (an Indonesian Chili Sauce)

Truth be told, I have never even heard of Sambal Oelek until recently. More than a week ago, one of my husband's patient gave him two bags of fresh sweet and hot peppers from his garden, and aside from those peppers, he also gave us a bagful of super red ripened tomatoes. Overwhelmed by his kind gesture to the point that I don't even know what to do with those gracious bounty! 

We consumed the tomatoes quickly, using them in salads and sandwiches, which were absolutely divine! Nothing really beats fresh tomatoes harvested directly from the vine to your table. But I was still left with those peppers. I was roasting some of the sweet peppers, but by golly, I really don't know what to do with the hot ones! 

Finally, I posted a photo of those peppers on my FB account looking for suggestions 'coz I was just going to use them for flavored vinegar with onions and garlic seasoned with salt and pepper, otherwise, I would just can them in a simple pickle juice. But it didn't take a while until a friend of mine from SoFlo named, Zee suggested that I should make them into Sambal Oelek!!! I was 'like' what the heck is that? It sounded so strange to me, and with the Internet right on my fingertips, I quickly 'GOOGLED' it and found out that Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian Chili Sauce, which is used as a base for anything. It's like an Eastern condiment like Tabasco sauce!

So, I scoured the Internet for a good recipe for Sambal Oelek! Needless to say, I was overwhelmed by the number of recipes out there! Some are very simple, but most of them are the same, and others are just way too complicated for me. But in the end, I've decided I'm going to do it my way and combine the most popular ingredients that are more readily available in my pantry to make it spew SAMBAL OELEK!!!! :)

Upon my guestimation, I probably have 1 1/2 pounds of hot peppers on hand, so here's my proportional analysis on the matter:


Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of Red Hot Peppers, sliced (most seeds were discarded, but can be added if you want more heat!)
2 Fresh lemon grass, thinly sliced (or 3 Tbsp of bottled/preserved lemon grass found)
1 clove of garlic, mashed in a mortar and pestle
3 shallots, cut in half
1 lime zest
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Combine all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor (I used a blender for this project and it worked very well). Pulse for few seconds at a time until it is completely minced. Transfer all of the contents in a saucepan. Let it come to a full boil on medium heat. Stir occasionally for five minutes. Then, fill sterilized jars with the hot sauce close to the rim, but leaving enough space. Seal and place them in a canner with boiling water for food processing. In this case, I had them processing for about 40 minutes. Remove jars from the canner and let it stand flat on the counter. And that's it! 

Serve this hot chili sauce with anything you like. We used it for the first time tonight with slow roasted chicken and it was the best chili sauce we've ever had! So fresh and hot, hot, hot! My husband loves it better than Tabasco Sauce! For real!!!


Enjoy!