‘Sambal with that?’

Sambal goes with ‘the Chinese’ like a beard goes with a hipster. Yet sambal is no more Chinese than satay and peanut sauce. That doesn’t change the fact that Chinese star chef Han Ji is launching his own sambal on the market: Sambal Terasi by Han. ‘Sambal is the New Drug.’

One of the standard questions in a Chinese takeaway restaurant is: ‘Sambal with that?’ The fact that this question has become standard in our hospitality industry has everything to do with the tradition of Chin.-Ind. restaurants we have here. A contraction of Chinese and Dutch East Indies, through which latter cuisine the former first found its way onto Dutch soil. With sambal being an Indonesian element. Just like babi pangang. Peanut sauce. And prawn crackers. No other country in the world besides ours has these items with their own order number in a Chinese restaurant.

Chin.-Ind.

Here, the Chinese part has always overshadowed the Indonesian part. But in 2016, Indonesian cuisine is finally stepping out of the shadows. Following the launch of Indonesian Cuisine Day (from now on held every year on November 4), the publication of a series of Indonesian cookbooks and the mobile sale of Indonesian/Indonesian street food at festivals, a new sambal is now appearing on the market.

But that one, of all things, comes from a Chinese star chef. Han Ji, of restaurants including HanTing Cuisine in The Hague, emphasizes the medicinal qualities of his dishes. Hence his interest in sambal. Because spicy food in general and sambal in particular have healing properties, according to Han Ji.

Sambal=Drugs

‘Our society is experiencing more and more stress. Stressed people have a greater need for spicy food. This causes the production of endorphins, because the body responds to the “pain” signal triggered by the sharp spices. The result: we become addicted to this New Drug,’ says the Chinese chef, who is happy to feed our new addiction with an Indonesian sambal made from red chili peppers and shrimp (terasi).

Sambal also contains anti-inflammatory substances, is good for burning fat and keeps the airways open. So bring on the sambal!

Sambal terasi by Han is currently available only through Han Ji’s restaurants Red Chilli, HanTing Cuisine and UMAMI by Han.

Image: Han Ji