Easy Angled Beans Sambal Recipe (Sambal Kacang Botol)
Angled Beans Sambal is an easy recipe that takes a little bit of effort, but is very worth it. The thick sambal is slightly spicy and mildly sour from tamarind juice, while the four angled beans are just-cooked, firm and crunchy. The sweetness from the vegetable also contrasts perfectly with the sour-spicy sambal gravy.
Serve it with white rice, fried eggs, and any type of fried meat dish.
Serves 4 to 5 adults.
Ingredients
Angled beans are the main ingredient of this dish. While there are many vegetables that can be made into a sambal dish, I enjoy angled beans the most. It only needs 3 minutes in the pan to be fully cooked, yet retains its firm and crunchy texture. Its edges also pick up sambal easily, coating them wonderfully with the delicious gravy.
Cooking oil to cook the sambal mixture until it becomes a thick paste.
Salt, to add taste to the sambal mixture; especially if the shrimp paste is the less salty type. It is optional.
Sugar, to mellow the spiciness of the sambal.
Concentrated tamarind water adds a lovely tangy hint to the sambal mixture. Introducing a complex, non-citrusy rounded sour flavour to the sambal balances out its spiciness and saltiness.
And, the ingredients for the Sambal Paste:
Lemongrass – which is added for its fragrance and lightly fibrous texture.
Red chillies (cayenne pepper) – for a lovely sweet chilli flavour, amidst the spiciness of the chilli paste. As these are cayenne pepper (or “cili kulai” in Malaysia), they are not very spicy compared to the bird’s eye chilli.
Galangal adds a grassy, citrusy flavour to the sambal paste, as well as added fibre.
Shallots – the herb that sweetens the sambal paste.
Garlic – adds an earthy flavour to the sambal.
Turmeric – gives colour and an earthy, bitterness to the sambal paste.
Chilli Paste – this is the ingredient that controls the level of spiciness and adds a brilliant red to the sambal. For a less spicy flavour, use the paste of guajillo chilli, or omit it from the recipe.
Dried Shrimps – adds a salty and umami flavour to the sambal.
Belacan, or shrimp paste – adds saltiness and umami-ness to the sambal.
Water assists in blending all the herbs, making it easier to smoothen the sambal mixture with all the fibrous ingredients. It is also added to help thin the sambal paste a little so that it is easier to coat the angled beans with the sambal as it cooks.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to make this Angled Beans Sambal dish:
- Cut the angled beans.
- Cut the herbs.
- Blend all the herbs, with chilli paste, dried shrimp, water and shrimp paste.
- Fry sambal paste with cooking oil until it starts to boil, before adding salt, sugar and concentrated tamarind water
- Fry for 5 minutes, until thick and paste-like.
- Add the angled beans and water, and fry to cook to your desired doneness.
- Taste and adjust.
- Switch off the heat and serve with white rice.
Tips
- Cutting the fibrous and large herbs, as well as adding water to the blender shortens the blending time, and helps us get a smoother sambal paste with minimal chunks.
- Keeping the skin on for the turmeric prevents excess staining of the chopping board, knife and hands. Optionally, the skin can be removed if preferred.
- Washing the dried shrimp not only removes debris but also any excess preservatives.
- I used a less salty type of shrimp paste, so I added another 1/8 tsp of salt to the sambal paste as it cooks. If you’re using a salty type, the additional salt can be omitted.
- The sambal paste should be added while the cooking oil is still cool. This prevents large oil splatters when the paste is introduced to the pan as there is moisture in the paste.
- Watch the video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
As this Angled Beans Sambal is freshly made, leftovers can be kept in the fridge for no more than 2 days. Be sure to reheat until the sambal gravy is boiling slightly. If needed, about 25ml to 50ml of water can be added to help with reheating this dish. Make sure to stir continuously to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan.
However, I do not recommend freezing this dish as the ice crystals that form tend to break the cellular structure of vegetables, turning both the angled beans and gravy into a mush-like texture after thawing.
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Easy Angled Beans Sambal (Sambal Kacang Botol)
Equipment
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Blender/ Food Processor
- Wok
- Turner
Ingredients
- 240 g four angled beans, washed, tips removed and cut slantingly into 2 inches in length
- 50 ml cooking oil
- 1/8 tsp salt, optional
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 30 ml tamarind water, concentrated
- 50 ml water
Blend Together
- 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped roughly
- 2 red chilli, chopped
- 10 g young galangal, chopped roughly. Can be substituted with 5g of old galangal
- 95 g shallots, peeled and cut to large pieces
- 25 g garlic, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 10 g turmeric, lightly broken with skin on
- 1 tbsp chilli paste, for extra spiciness, optional
- 12 g dried prawns, washed, with water drained
- 100 ml water
- 8 g shrimp paste, belacan (less salty type)
Instructions
- Prepare the four angled beans. Remove the tips on both ends. Cut slantingly into 1.5 to 2 inch pieces. Set them all aside.
- Prepare the herbs to blend. Starting with the most fibrous herb, roughly chop the lemongrass into thin chunks. Set them aside.
- Remove the stems from the red chillies and chop them roughly. Set aside.
- Roughly chop the galangal into small, thin pieces. Set them aside.
- If the shallots and garlic are large, cut them into halves or thirds. Set aside.
- Keep the turmeric with the skin on, and with the tip of the knife, break it into half.
- Add all the herbs into the blender, together with the chilli paste, washed dried shrimps, water and shrimp paste. Blend smooth and even in colour, for about 30 seconds.
- Warm the cooking oil in a stainless steel pan over medium heat.
- While the oil is still cool, add all the sambal mixture, scraping the blender to get it all out. Stir continuously until all the mixture has combined with the cooking oil.
- When the sambal mixture is starting to boil, add the salt, sugar and concentrated tamarind water. Continuously stir for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes very thick and paste-like.
- Spread the sambal as evenly as you can in the pan. Add all the angled beans and mix until they are well coated with the sambal paste. Add some water to help with this.
- Continuously fry for 3 minutes for just-cooked, crunchy angled beans. For softer angled beans, fry for about 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust as preferred.
- Switch off the heat and dish it out.
- Enjoy with a plate of white rice.
Video
Notes
- Cutting the fibrous and large herbs, as well as adding water to the blender shortens the blending time, and helps us get a smoother sambal paste with minimal chunks.
- Keeping the skin on for the turmeric prevents excess staining of the chopping board, knife and hands. Optionally, the skin can be removed if preferred.
- Washing the dried shrimp not only removes debris but also any excess preservatives.
- I used a less salty type of shrimp paste, so I added another 1/8 tsp of salt to the sambal paste as it cooks. If you’re using a salty type, the additional salt can be omitted.
- The sambal paste should be added while the cooking oil is still cool. This prevents large oil splatters when the paste is introduced to the pan as there is moisture in the paste.
- It can be kept in the fridge for no more than 2 days. Reheat in a pan (add some water if necessary) until the gravy is slightly boiling before serving.
- Freezing is not recommended as ice crystals will affect the texture of the angled beans and sambal gravy, making the dish very mushy once thawed.
- Watch the video to see how I made it exactly!