Fish bombs and other food related topics

Bomb Explosion: Central Sulawesi
A fish bomb exploded at the house of forestry agency head in Tojo Una – Una
regency, Central Sulawei on Thursday 6 January. No injuries were reported
and police are investigating. (Source: Media Indonesia)

"So what is a fish bomb? Can only make you wonder. Probably did not smell
good anyway you approach it." (Quote and news flash from sweetie pie to me)

No, I am not making this up. Honey lamb gets all kinds of security updates at his job and some of the more choice ones he sends to me. Sometimes, here in our little stress-free world as some imagine we live in, their are unnerving warnings like those about protest areas to avoid, violence against certain groups, volcanic eruptions, or things that could severely alter your life. Thank goodness, some are simply amusing as they have no direct impact on me. Now, I imagine if I had been the recipient of a fish bomb I probably would be less amused.

Here is another news flash.
CIVIL & LABOR AFFAIRS
Official Run Amok Over Job Transfer
An inauguration ceremony for officials in Palopo, South Sulawesi, had to be
cancelled on Wednesday 5 January after an officer, upset about his new
posting,threatened to attack colleagues and guests with a bamboo pole. Andi Nur Pallulu, the former head of the Palopo administration’s national unity and public protection division, started overturning chairs and tables, screaming that anybody who dared move him to his new post “would have to deal with him personally.” He was recently named head of the city’s Women’s Empowerment and Family Planning Agency.
Participants and guests dispersed during Andi’s outburst and there were no
reports of injuries. (Source: The Jakarta Globe)

OK....

Enough of these news flashes and on to food related topics that are much more interesting anyway.

In the Monday edition of the Jakarta Post, there was an interesting article on sambal. A couple of things before we proceed. First there is a chili crisis here in Indonesia. With the abundant rains we have had both over the summer (sorry that would be the summer months as they relate to the other side of the world and areas that have seasonal changes other than it rains a fair amount or it rains so hard that you have class 3 rapids on the streets) and during the winter months (see previous notation)chili production is down. Chili prices are soring and this is a major problem for a country who LOVES sambal and chilies in every form.

Secondly, if you have been keeping up with things that I have posted, if you haven't, you know who you are, you will remember the sambal discussion.
Today we will explore the topic of sambal further.

According to this article, there are 19 kinds of sambal. Who knew? This is probably a little low as I am sure there are subtle variations for the people who tweak the recipe based on what they like. Let's explore some of these recipes.

In this article I don't know if they listed them by preference, amount consumed, oldest recipes to newest versions or what. But let's dive in. Oh! By the way, all of the following is paraphrased from the Jakarta Post and Wikipedia. This is my general interpretation and highlights of what was printed.

Sambal terasi. It apparently is a very common style of sambal made here. Terasi is fermented shrimp paste. It is mixed with red and green chilies, sugar, salt, either lime or lemon juice. The citrus juice can be omitted and pounded tomatoes used instead. It is not cooked.

Sambal mangga uses the above sambal recipe with shredded young mango added. There appear to be multiple recipes which use sambal terasi as the base and then they improvise.

As would make sense, different areas of the archipelago has their version of how they like their sambal.

Padang, which is on the west coast of Sumatra (the big island to the north and west of Java where we reside) produces many versions of sambal for which they are well known.

Sambal balado is Padang's famous sambal. To make it you can use either red or green chilies mixed with garlic, shallot, red or green tomatoes, salt and either lemon or lime juice. It is then sauteed with oil.

In Bali they like Sambal matah. It is made with raw shallot and lemongrass. The shallots are finely chopped along with bird's eye chili, terasi and a little dash of lemon.

In Manado they make sambal dabu-dabu. Coarsely chopped tomatoes, shallots birds's eye chili, basil, salt and vegetable oil.

Finally there is sambal petai. This sambal is a mix of red chili, garlic, shallot and petai, which is green stinky bean. No joke, that is what they are called in the English translation. So ends the paraphrasing.

You are now among the educated foodies and if asked, you can give a quick overview of sambal. If you get the opportunity, give it a try. I can guarantee it is much better than receiving a fish bomb.