What Is Sambal ulek (ground chili peppers and salt) and How Can I Use It?
If sambal ulek (ground chili peppers and salt) has turned up in a recipe or caught your eye at the store, here's what you need to use it with confidence and how to choose it, cook it, store it, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to try it in.
Key Points
- A raw Indonesian chili paste of ground fresh red chilies and salt, with little else.
- Named for the ulekan mortar and pestle; the coarse grind leaves it rough and seedy.
- Stir it in raw for sharp heat or cook it in early as a base layer of spice.
- Far hotter and saltier than table hot sauce, so a teaspoon goes a long way.
- Jarred sambal oelek swaps one for one; refrigerate after opening and it keeps for months.
What is sambal ulek (ground chili peppers and salt)?
Sambal ulek is the most stripped-down of the Indonesian chili sambals: fresh red chilies ground to a coarse paste with salt, and little else.
No garlic, no shrimp paste, no sugar in the basic version, just clean, bright, blazing chili heat.
The name comes from the ulekan, the stone mortar and pestle used to crush the chilies. That coarse grind is part of its character, leaving you with a rough, seedy, vivid-red paste rather than a smooth sauce.
It is the building block sambal that gives a dish its heat without committing it to any other flavor, raw chili in spoonable form, which is why cooks across Indonesia and the Dutch-Indonesian kitchen reach for it constantly.
How to Use Sambal Ulek
It plays two roles. Stirred in raw at the end, it adds sharp, fresh heat to a finished dish or a dipping sauce; cooked in early, it mellows and melts into a stir-fry or braise as the base layer of spice.
In Indonesian cooking it seasons noodle and rice dishes from the start, bringing the heat to Bep's Barmi Goreng. It also wakes up a satay spread, where a spoonful sharpens the peanut sauce for Satay Vegetable & Sprout Pancakes.
It doubles as a fiery condiment too. A small dab on the side of grilled meat like Ajam Panggang (Indonesian Barbecued Chicken) lets each person dial up their own heat.
Treat it as pure heat you can measure. Because it carries no garlic or sweetness, a teaspoon raises the spice cleanly, so add it in small amounts and taste as you go.
Pairing and Common Mistakes
Sambal ulek is a partner, not a whole sauce. It leans on garlic, shallot, lime, palm sugar, soy, fish sauce, peanut, and coconut milk, the flavors that fill in everything the plain chili paste leaves out.
The most common mistake is treating it like a milder hot sauce and spooning it on freely. This is raw ground chili with salt, far hotter and saltier than a bottled table sauce, so a teaspoon goes where you might pour a tablespoon of something else.
Watch the salt it already carries. Since salt is the only other ingredient, season the rest of the dish lightly and adjust at the end, or it ends up too salty.
Substitutes
The closest swap is sambal oelek from a jar, the same thing commercially made, usually with a little vinegar for shelf life. Use it one for one, expecting a slightly tangier result.
A paste of fresh red chilies blitzed with salt is the true homemade stand-in. Grind or blend seeded red chilies with a pinch of salt to taste, and you have essentially rebuilt it.
In a pinch, crushed red pepper flakes soaked in a little hot water, or a plain chili-garlic sauce with the garlic accounted for, will carry the heat, though neither has the same fresh, raw chili brightness.
Buying and Storing
Buy sambal ulek (often spelled sambal oelek) in jars from the Asian aisle of most supermarkets and any Southeast Asian grocery. A good one lists little more than chili and salt and shows a coarse, seedy, bright-red texture.
An unopened jar keeps for a year or more in the cupboard.
The salt and acidity make it stable, so there is no rush to use it. Once opened, store it in the fridge, where it stays good for several months.
The color slowly dulls from bright to brick over time, which is normal, but discard it if you see fuzzy mold or smell anything off. A clean, dry spoon each time keeps it lasting longest.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 叁峇ulek（地面辣椒和盐）
- British (UK) term
- Sambal ulek (ground chili peppers and salt)
- en français
- ulek sambal (rez-de piments et le sel)
- en español
- Ulek sambal (planta chiles y sal)
Recipes using sambal ulek (ground chili peppers and salt)
There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Satay Vegetable & Sprout Pancakes
Savory whole wheat pancakes wrapped around snow peas, sprouts, mushrooms and carrots, drizzled with peanut-butter satay dressing. Vegetarian Asian-style fusion lunch.
Hot Bananas a la Baloo
Hot bananas a la Baloo are grilled bananas marinated in honey, sambal oelek, and soy sauce. Spicy-sweet Indonesian-Japanese fusion side that pairs with grilled meats. Just four ingredients.
Savoury Nibbles
Crispy spiced fritters dripped through a slotted spoon into hot oil, made with chickpea flour, buttermilk, sambal, and a hand-ground spice blend of coriander, mustard, and cinnamon.
Bep's Barmi Goreng
Spicy Indonesian noodles with ground beef, bacon, tomatoes, and authentic seasonings like boemboe nasi goreng and sambal oelek. This one-hour dish tastes even better the next day.
Indonesian Pork Tenderloin
Indonesian pork tenderloin marinated in lime, soy, brown sugar, cumin, curry, and sambal ulek, then seared fast in a hot pan. Sweet, smoky, and chili-hot, served with fried bananas.
Ajam Panggang (Indonesian Barbecued Chicken)
Ajam Panggang is a flavorful Indonesian dish featuring chicken marinated in a rich blend of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), garlic, lime, and spicy sambal ulek, then roasted or grilled until juicy and caramelized. Paired with crispy shrimp puffs (kroepoek oedang) and a thickened marinade sauce, it’s perfect as a standalone dish or part of an Indonesian rice table with nasi goreng (fried rice).
Atjar Tjampoer
Crisp matchstick vegetables dance in a tangy sweet-and-sour sauce spiked with sambal heat and golden turmeric. This Indonesian pickle jar classic pairs like a dream with Nasi Goreng.
