Kecap Manis and Sambal: Must Have Condiments from Our South East Asian Neighbors

Filipinos are known for their patis, toyo and suka (fish sauce, soy sauce and vinegar). What Filipino kitchen doesn't have these three condiments? They can be applied to almost any local Filipino dish: whether its the patis for your sinigang, the soy sauce for adobo or a combination of soy sauce and vinegar for the inihaw, our local barbecue.

I was so happy to find these two in the grocery a few years back, and it has become a staple in my grocery list:


These are the other condiments that I have grown to love: the kecap manis (literally sweet sauce, or sweet soy sauce) and the Sambal, or the crushed red pepper sauce. Kecap manis is basically soy sauce made sweeter by the addition of palm sugar and sometimes with garlic and star anise. Sometimes The sauce is thick and not at all salty and has a very rich caramel-like flavor. Sambal sauce, on the other hand, is a thick chili sauce made of crushed pepper. It has varied consistencies, the sambal sold by ABC pictured here is smooth and thick. Other sambal sauces are coarse and you can see both the flesh and chili seeds in the sauce. Both are popular condiments in Indonesia, Malaysia and even in Singapore. Thailand, Cambodia and MyanMar are also known to make their own sambal sauces only they add fish sauce to it.

Combined together (depending on how spicy you want yours) they make an excellent condiment for everything imaginable. They're used a lot with Ikan Goreng, or fried fish and Ayam Bakar or barbecue chicken. Add freshly squeezed lime and mint leaves and they're perfect. They add another dimension to the Satay Ayam (or chicken in peanut sauce) and are also often used with Bubur Ayam (the Indonesian equivalent of our arrozcaldo).

Locally, I use the kecap manis and sambal sauce to flavor a somewhat dreary fried tilapia, which I often fry out of necessity when I'm too tired to cook anything. I also use them as marinade for chicken barbecue and when I try to make my own version of Nasi Goreng, Indonesian-style fried rice.