The Food of Hell from Indonesia

      1. Identification :

Famous as one of the best tropical countries, Indonesia provides tons of uniqueness and excitement. Its nature, culture, and art always bring millions of tourist each year. However, this time we are going to talk about one thing, Indonesia’s cuisine, in particular Sambal.

Sambal or sambel is infamous among tourist as the food of hell for its undeniable ability to make the consumer produces tears and sweat when eating. Produced using chili as its main ingredient, sambal is indeed taste extremely spicy.

Description :

Sambal is made by grinding ‘cabai’ or chili, along with several complements such as onion, bell pepper,  tomato, ‘terasi’, sugar, and salt. The ingredients are grinded using traditional tool made usually from wood. The texture is smooth with a vibrant color of green and red, depending on which chili you use.

Infamous among tourists for its spiciness, many tourists avoid it. However, some of them are challenged and try to eat it. Those who dare to try usually will get stomach ache or turn very red and sweaty in the face. Though super spicy, locals eat it in almost daily basis as their main meal.

2.  Wrong facts about Sambal

1.  Sambal is not always spicy, its spiciness varies, depending on the type of Sambal.

2. Sambal is made with ulekan & cobek;  know as mortar and pestle, a tool to grind Sambal it is made out of stone.

3. Sambal is not infamous, most foreigner think it is quite tasty, depends on their liking.

4. Sambal can be red or green

5. Sambal is NOT a main dish, it is a condiment; a sauce.

6. As I know, there aren't any Sambal using bell pepper.

7. Not many Sambals use onion, they use garlic and shallots.

3. Extra information

1. Terasi; it is basically a shrimp paste

2. There are also Sambal in packets, but it is made out of artificial ingredients.

3. Some Sambal are cooked, some are raw, raw Sambal is usually known as Sambal Matah
4. Some people say that Sambal can make you slimmer, but I personally think it doesn't. it actually can make you fatter because, as you add Sambal, your appetite increases.
5. Sambal is healthy because it contains vitamins from the chili itself, and also nutrients from the complements, as in; shrimp, fruits, garlic, tomatoes and others.

source: friends and common knowledge