Is sambal generally more, or less spicy than the pepper it's made of?
I recently bought some Sambal Jolokia Badjak, which is made from the Bhut Jolokia and thus quite spicy.
I couldn't find any Scoville rating for it, but the Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) is rated at somewhere from 855,000 - 1,041,427 SHUs, according to WikiPedia.
So I was wondering, how does the Scoville rating of sambal compare to the peppers it's made of? Is it generally more, or less spicy?
Best Answer
By logic, I would assume the Scoville rating of any sambal to be at most the same as the peppers it's made of. It can never get hotter than it was, and in general, and certainly for store-bought sambals, there will always be stuff added, lowering the (perceived) hotness.
Badjak always implies fried peppers. It also tends to include onion and garlic, and whatever else the local tradition or family recipe dictates. And it tends to be milder than the Oelek (or Ulek) variant, both because of the frying, and because of the additions.
The Oelek/Ulek variety is plain, hardcore, grounded peppers, with most likely a touch of salt and a souring agent for preservation. Oelekan/Ulekan actually is the "pestle" part of a mortar and pestle. For store bought oeleks, I simply look at the ingredient list and percentages, and take the one with the highest amount of peppers, and least amount of additions. Current record is 96%, with salt and vinegar making up the remaining 4.
Wikipedia actually has a very nice article on sambal.
Pictures about "Is sambal generally more, or less spicy than the pepper it's made of?"
How spicy is sambal sauce?
Traditionally, in Indonesia, cabe (chaw-bay) peppers are used to make sambal. They are most closely related in flavor to a cayenne or Holland chile\u2014fairly hot (in the 30,000 to 50,000 SHU range) and sweet, but you can experiment with different chiles depending on what's available and your desired heat level.What spice is sambal oelek?
Sambal Oelek is a spicy Indonesian chili paste made with hot red peppers. It's typically made with hot red chile peppers, salt and vinegar. Some variations can contain onion, lemon, sugar, etc.The science of spiciness - Rose Eveleth
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