cara masak sotong sambal

Sambal Sotong or Spicy Squid Sambal is one of my favourite Malay stir fries ever! Squid in a spicy, rich sambal gravy… this is so good with some cooked rice especially.

I prefer to clean the squid after I slice it into rings rather than before. That way I make sure I really get all of the inner grossness out of the squid.

I don’t bother removing the skin off the squid, but feel free to carve it off if you prefer a skinless squid.

Resepi Sotong Sambal Bersantan, Mak Cakap Masak Gulai

I like to take the extra step of salting the squid before cooking it. It helps to remove any sort of fishiness from the squid. This is an optional step though. If my squids are catches of the day, I would skip this.

This method is known as “buang air sotong”, or “removing squid water”, and is a traditional Malay cooking process that frankly is not that widely implemented these days.

3. Once it achieves maximum foaminess (lol), wash the squid to remove the salt and the “squid water” and the squid is ready for use.

Begini Masak Resepi Sambal Sotong Sedap Yang Simple

If you’re familiar with Singapore/Malaysian cuisine, you will know sambal is a base ingredient of a lot of beloved local dishes. Sambal is basically the dried chilli paste mixture cooked right at the beginning.

In this recipe, I used ready made dried chilli paste. You can use ready-made dried chilli paste, or make it yourself. No surprises that I prefer to make my own – the store-bought versions often have either added salt or vinegar as preservatives so seasoning is slightly trickier.

I always make a huge batch of dried chilli paste and keep it in the fridge so it’s ready-to-go for times like these. I have a recipe and a dedicated post on how to make your own dried chilli paste here.

Resipi Sambal Sotong Oleh Noor Atika Mahamood

If you are making dried chilli paste from scratch for this recipe, you can blend the dried chillies with onions and garlic to form one paste instead.

Since I’m adding the onions with the dried chilli paste separately, I chopped half of the onion, and the other half I sliced it and added it at the end. This is optional, I like having that extra layer of crisp onion flavour, but you can chop the onions and add it right at the beginning of the cooking process.

The key to good sambal sotong is in the sambal. In this recipe, I emphasised on properly cooking the dried chilli paste. Most recipes would just say to stir fry until fragrant, but to get the full developed flavour of sambal, you have to cook it thoroughly.

Tip Masak Sambal Sotong Yang Sedap. Sotong Tak Kecut, Sambal Pun Pekat Tak Berair

This is achieved when you stir fry the dried chilli paste over low to medium heat until it deepens in colour. It will also emulsify – this is when it dries down slightly and becomes a thicker paste, and the surrounding oil floats above it. This can take a while, depending on how much dried chilli paste you used. This step is also known as “pecah minyak” or “oil splitting”.

The sambal recipe here is a basic one. While I think this is delicious enough, if you want to level up the Sambal Sotong, add belachan or fermented dried shrimp paste. The belachan adds an extra layer of seafood umami that compliments the Sambal Sotong. If adding belachan, make sure you lessen the amount of salt added since belachan has salt in it already.

If you want an even simpler, yet tasty, version of Sambal Sotong, you can omit the lemongrass, tamarind and turmeric powder. Yes – you can most definitely make Sambal Sotong with just the basic ingredients of dried chilli paste, onions and garlic! In fact, when I first explored Malay cuisine, I stuck to these basics and built confidence from there!

Resepi Sambal Sotong Paling Mudah Sekali. Beli Sotong Besar Sikit, Baru Dapat Banyak Potong Banyak.

This Sambal Sotong has sauce in it, which I prefer. If you want a drier version of Sambal Sotong, which is some versions that you find in hawker stalls, simply do not add water.

Adversely, if you want more gravy in your Sambal Sotong, add more water. I would not recommend you add too much water, which would dilute the flavours.

If you are making dried chilli paste from scratch for this recipe, you can blend the dried chillies with onions and garlic to form one paste instead.

Since I’m adding the onions with the dried chilli paste separately, I chopped half of the onion, and the other half I sliced it and added it at the end. This is optional, I like having that extra layer of crisp onion flavour, but you can chop the onions and add it right at the beginning of the cooking process.

The key to good sambal sotong is in the sambal. In this recipe, I emphasised on properly cooking the dried chilli paste. Most recipes would just say to stir fry until fragrant, but to get the full developed flavour of sambal, you have to cook it thoroughly.

Tip Masak Sambal Sotong Yang Sedap. Sotong Tak Kecut, Sambal Pun Pekat Tak Berair

This is achieved when you stir fry the dried chilli paste over low to medium heat until it deepens in colour. It will also emulsify – this is when it dries down slightly and becomes a thicker paste, and the surrounding oil floats above it. This can take a while, depending on how much dried chilli paste you used. This step is also known as “pecah minyak” or “oil splitting”.

The sambal recipe here is a basic one. While I think this is delicious enough, if you want to level up the Sambal Sotong, add belachan or fermented dried shrimp paste. The belachan adds an extra layer of seafood umami that compliments the Sambal Sotong. If adding belachan, make sure you lessen the amount of salt added since belachan has salt in it already.

If you want an even simpler, yet tasty, version of Sambal Sotong, you can omit the lemongrass, tamarind and turmeric powder. Yes – you can most definitely make Sambal Sotong with just the basic ingredients of dried chilli paste, onions and garlic! In fact, when I first explored Malay cuisine, I stuck to these basics and built confidence from there!

Resepi Sambal Sotong Paling Mudah Sekali. Beli Sotong Besar Sikit, Baru Dapat Banyak Potong Banyak.

This Sambal Sotong has sauce in it, which I prefer. If you want a drier version of Sambal Sotong, which is some versions that you find in hawker stalls, simply do not add water.

Adversely, if you want more gravy in your Sambal Sotong, add more water. I would not recommend you add too much water, which would dilute the flavours.

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