There is a misconception about how Hongkongers inability to handle heat.
I wasn't talking about the balmy 30something degree weather, nor the heat radiating from Megan Fox' luscious lips. I meant chilli heat. Hot! Spicy, spicy.
Is it really a misconception? Do most Hongkongers eat spicy food? I felt that way, as most of my local friends are able to nonchalantly chew on raw chillies and slather their food with chilli sauce/chilli oil, even when I was already panting, sweating, crying, pleading for more iced water. There's one thing I noticed though. They would drown their wontons/noodles/meat in chilli sauce, but they hardly use any chilli condiment with rice.
Hah! This is where I see my niche. Being Indonesian, I love chilli condiments with my rice, especially Indonesian ones. The condiments do not need to go with any entree, it can be considered the star of the meal. I could probably finish a bucket of rice with a serving of tasty chilli sauce, and I definitely plan to influence the heck outta my friends. They'd better be eating rice with chilli by the time I am done with them.
What type of chilli goodness would be suitable for this dominatrix mission? One of the candidates is...
Spicy Tomato Chilli Paste - Sambal Tomat Sedep
Recipe
- 1 head of garlic, peeled
- 8 cloves of shallot, peeled
- 10 small red chillies (remove seeds if you want it mild, or use large chillies)
- 2 tomatoes, cut into 8 sections each
- 1 candle nut
- 2 tsp ground corriander seeds
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- a dash of white pepper
- a dash of fish sauce
- olive oil
Throw everything into a food processor, pulse until you end up with chunky pieces (I pulsed mine too much). If you are not using a food processor, finely chop garlic, thinly slice shallot, chop chillies and chop tomatoes into chunky pieces. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, saute the mixture until the liquid evaporates and it formed a paste, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Since it is a condiment, the flavors should be strong enough, it is ok to be a little on the salty side.
The plan for domination didn't go well, I shall try another time (never give up!).
Meanwhile, maybe I should also start to influence my friends to try another Indonesian habit, eating carb with another carb (rice with noodles, noodles with congee, rice with potatoes, etc)...*multitasking fever*
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8 comments:
Oh I love the combination of flavours here! I can't take too much heat but love the taste of chilli which is quite different from how hot it is, hehe, I'm a big fan of carbs with carbs too! My favourite pizza is potato and rosemary!
lol! your quest for domination with chili's remind me of the plans of the cartoon Pinky and the Brain where they think of ideas every night to try to take over the world!
Ok I need to make this, I have everything but a candle nut! What is that? Do I need it?
LOVE your blog!
Hi yaya, potato and rosemary pizza, wow! that's another carb n carb combo I gotta try!
@Ravenous Couple...LOL! ehm maybe i should start with carb n carb influence first no?
@Jennifer, hmm...the candlenut makes it...thicker and nuttier ^_^ you can try skipping it, i am sure it will still be delicious too
Ooh, I love the coriander and cumin in this recipe. I usually just do chili and lemongrass. Candlenuts make it thicker and nuttier huh? Hmm.
Do you think I could substitute a cashew or 2 for the candlenut? Typically the only fresh red chiles I can find are "Fresno" chiles, like jalapenos but red. Think that'll work?
@vicki i haven't personally tried using cashew and fresno chiles...but i think it is worth trying in small batches...please let me know how it turns out ^_^
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