Spicy Tomato Chilli Paste - Sambal Tomat Sedep

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*