Sambal Kecap

This is my version of a sweet sambal soy sauce. It is called sambal kecap and it is deliciously sweet with a dash of spiciness. I use a sambal onion as a base and fry it this in the pan. Then I add sweet soy sauce and finish this with lime juice.

I love the combination of the sweet soy sauce and the hot peppers. At first the sauce doesn’t seem hot, but wait … and then … boom…, nice and spicy! The lime balances all flavors.

Do you want to see all homemade sambal recipes on this site? I’ve made more than 25 already.

This recipe for ketjap manis is enough for 3 people and is ready in 5 minutes.

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Ingredients

• 3 chili peppers
• 1 shallot (about the size of a lime)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste (terasi)
• juice of half a lime
• two tablespoons of unsalted peanuts
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1. Chop the peanuts with a knife or in a food processor
2. Chop the peppers, garlic, and onion and grind in the mortar with the salt
3. Add 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste and grind it with the rest
4. Fry this in a tablespoon of oil in the pan until the onions turn golden
5. Turn gas to low and add 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
6. Remove from heat and add the juice of half a lime.
7. Serve with 1 tablespoon of chopped peanuts on top

You can of course use all kinds of peppers. If you like super spicy, go for rawit or Madame Jeanette, but ordinary chili peppers (lomboks) are often spicy enough.

In Indonesia they like garlic, a lot of garlic (bawang putih). You can of course decide how much you put in, but I think two cloves in combination with 3 peppers a nice balance in flavor. I also go for a shallot for this sambal, because this onion is a bit stronger in taste.

Before I place my peppers, onions and garlic in the mortar I cut everything super fine, so the mix becomes more like a paste and mixes well with the soy sauce later. By the way, I use ABC’s ketjap manis because it is the sweetest kecap I know.

I happen to use green and red peppers Green peppers are delicious They have an unripe flavor and that combines nicely with the red peppers. The colors of the peppers will soon disappear in the black soy sauce.

This sambal is less hot due to the sweetness. First, you taste the delicious sweet soy sauce and then the delicious spicy taste. This sambal soy sauce is great to combine with fish or with crispy fried tempeh for example.