Sambal Fried Rice – The Spicy Scandal!

  This Sambal Fried Rice kicks it up a notch. So yeah it is spicy – not ‘tears in your eyes’ HOT, but spicy and YUMMY! The fragrance is  so inviting as well. It beckons you to follow the scent and dig in! Sambal is a South East Asian sauce / relish / condiment. It is chili based and often paired with a salting agent like belachan (shrimp paste) or fish sauce. This is more pungent, yet the end result is delicious. However, my recipe replaces this for a large pinch of Chicken Bouillon Cube. You might also like my other fried rice recipes. Here are two  of them : Pineapple Fried Rice Recipe  & Tom Yum Fried Rice Recipe.

Sambal Fried Rice – The Spicy Scandal!

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups Basmati rice or Jasmine Rice Cooked in 5 ¼ cups water and cooled ( overnight rice is good too)
• 1 chicken breast,  rinsed, drained and diced ( recommended) – sometimes I use minced chicken (as in video) – my kids like it 
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 3 tsp garlic, finely minced
• 2 tsp ginger, finely minced
• 2 tsp mild green chilli, finely minced
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander ( cilantro)
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup french beans, chopped
• 1 rounded tsp of dark sweet thick soy sauce or keycap manis
• ½ tsp or more chilli sauce or ketchup
• ¹⁄3 tsp salt or to taste
• ¹⁄8 tsp pepper powder or to taste
• ¹⁄3 cup oil to be used in three steps ( I use rice bran oil)

For the Sambal Paste:

• 6-7 shallots
• 5-6 large cloves garlic
• roughly the same amount of ginger as garlic
• 8 dried red chillies ( use the long, slender, milder & shriveled variety)
• ¾ tsp of a chicken bouillon cube ( look for msg free bouillon cubes or use concentrated stock paste)

Optional Garnish – (recommended) :

• Pickled sliced green chillies and crisply fried sliced shallots
• Finely chopped spring onion ( scallion) greens

Method:

• Soak the dried chillies for the Sambal Paste before you start on anything else – Leave in hot boiled water for 30 minutes (covered). Continue to peel, chop and prep the remaining ingredients in the meantime.

First Make the Sambal Paste:

• Add the ingredients for the Sambal Paste to a small mixer/ grinder.
• Grind to a smooth paste add just a little water to aid in the easy grinding of the ingredients. Use a spatula to remove all the paste to a non reactive bowl.
• Next we will cook this paste: To a wok ( carbon steel is best) add all but 3 Tbsp of the oil. As it heats up, add the paste. Fry, stirring on an off so that the paste  is evenly  cooked.
• After approximately 3 minutes of frying, the raw smell of the ingredients will have dissipated in to a lovely aroma. The color will be a deep, dark and lovely red. The oil will also separate and appear on the top. If tasted, you will not get the ‘burn’ of any raw spices. Strain the spice paste. Reserve the red scented oil that is left behind. Wipe the wok clean for frying the rice.

Stir fry the Chicken for the Fried Rice:

• Heat a pan for sautéing the chicken filling. Add  the reserved 3 Tbsp of oil.
• Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies. When softened and just changing color, add the diced onion and sauté. Allow to sweat a little.
• Add the minced or diced and drained chicken and stir into the sautéed ingredients, breaking down any clumps ( in case of mixed chicken) that form along the way.
• Keep cooking till the chicken  turns white (or the mince is free of clumps ), and the moisture begins to seep out.
• Add salt and 1 tsp of the sambal paste. Cook for  around 5 minutes, till the water evaporates and the chicken is cooked tender, without becoming overly dry ( do not over fry it). 
• Add a little  pepper to taste and the finely chopped coriander last. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Prepare the Sambal Spicy Fried Rice:

• Steam the chopped beans for just 1 minute and set aside.
• Beat the eggs well with a little, salt pepper and tiny bit of the sambal paste.
• Return the strained oil to the wok after wiping clean. Swirl the wok as the oil is heated on high.
• Add the beaten eggs to the pipping hot wok and scramble the eggs till just set.
• Add the cooked rice, while tossing till all the rice is added to the wok. Toss continuously on high heat, till all the grains are glossy and the rice is completely heated through. The grains should all be separate, press against any lumps to separate thoroughly.
• Once the rice is fried, add the fried chicken as well as all the sambal paste.
• Add the beans and toss again.
• Also add the dark sweet soy sauce (or keycap manis), chili sauce (or ketchup) and salt to taste.
• Toss well till the color is evenly distributed and check for seasoning.
• Garnish the Hot Spicy Fried Rice  with chopped fresh spring onion ( scallions) and serve with pickled green chillies and crispy fried shallots.

Sambal Fried Rice – The Spicy Scandal!

Try it and let us know – Sambal Chicken Fried Rice – The Spicy Scandal! .