I’m a little late with this post. Yesterday we celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with friends. Eid-ul-Fitr is a celebration of the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning festivityand Fitr means conclusion of the fast. Eid-ul-Fitr is the largest holiday in Indonesia.
We ate some fantastic food which included opor ayam (braised chicken in coconut milk), lontong (compressed rice cut into cubes), beef rendang (curried beef) and this spicy sambal. Everything was absolutely fantastic but the rendang was to die for. Incredibly delicious!! Enak sekali!!
The photo today is of sambal. Sambal is a spicy sauce used as a condiment. There are many different kinds of sambal each with a unique pairing of spices and ingredients and origin. There is sambal terasi which is made with terasi (fermented shrimp paste) and chili peppers. I still remember when my wife first cooked with shrimp paste. I came home and wondered who had smelly feet. It has a very strong and distinct smell to it. Personally I don’t particularly like it. Sambal kacang contains crushed fried peanuts.
My wife can’t eat any food without including sambal of some sort. I always joke she should get a sambal utility belt or a larger purse with compartments to hold all the different kinds of sambal. A sambal emergency kit.
To my Muslim friends and family – Eid Mubārak. May you be blessed with peace on Eid ul-Fitr.
[…] thing is I’ve never been a huge fan of really spicy food. Maybe the turning point was the Eid-ul-Fitr celebration where I experienced the most awesome and best tasting beef rendang ever. So now I am having this […]