Sambal Fishball (Fishballs in Red Chilli Paste)

This sambal fishball is a spicy side dish that is so easy to make and is just perfect to pep up any meal you are having.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

red, spicy fishballs in white bowl
Sambal Fishball

What is a Sambal?

If you are from Singapore and Malaysia, or are a longtime follower of LinsFood, you’ll know this one of course. There is no direct translation for the word sambal, which is a Malay and Indonesian word.

It more often than not, refers to a spicy, paste-like condiment, like Sambal Belacan, that ubiquitous Malay sambal. But it can also refer to fresh, salsa-like condiments like the Indonesian Sambal Matah or a dry thing like this Peanut and Anchovy Sambal.

And finally, the word sambal can also refer to side dishes eaten with rice, be they wet or dry, like Sambal Goreng and the Eurasian Prawn Sambal Bostador (still on LinsFood). So it’s a fairly broad term that encompasses a range of dishes.

Suffice it to say, when you hear the word sambal, it usually refers to something spicy.

So today’s sambal fishball is a spicy side dish meant to be eaten with rice.

Oh by the way, the Sri Lankans also use the word, but it’s spelt sambol.

fishballs covered in spicy red sauce
Reduce the number of chillies for something less spicy

Sambal Fishball Recipe

The recipe is very easy to do. There are kind of 2 parts to it: the fishballs and the sambal sauce itself. The fishballs we are using are of the Chinese variety, or any East Asian variety, if you like.

Fishballs are a very common street food all over East and South East Asia. They are used as toppings and ingredients in noodle and dishes and also sold as snacks, on skewers.

Chinese Fishballs

To make our sambal fishball, you’ll need Chinese fishballs. These can be easily found in East Asian stores, usually in the freezer section. Unless you’re in East or South East Asia. Then, you’ll find them fresh at wet markets and wrapped up at the fish counters in supermarkets.

You could also make them yourself, if you are so inclined. I have a post on how to make Chinese fishballs, over at LinsFood.

Chinese Fishballs
Chinese Fishballs

The Sambal

This is basically sambal tumis. For non Malay speakers, the word tumis means stir-fry or, more specifically, sauté. So sambal tumis is a sambal that starts off with being fried in a little oil.

Lots of dishes have the word tumis in them, and they may not always be dry, they just start off with the aromatics being sautéed.

So our sambal fishball sauce has only a few ingredients today:

  • dried red chillies
  • onions
  • garlic
  • optional shrimp paste
  • salt
  • sugar

And this is what we’ll be doing:

  1. Soak the dried chillies
  2. Blend the chillies, onions and garlic and shrimp paste, if using.
  3. Sauté some onions, followed by the blended chillies.
  4. Add fishballs and season. That’s it.

Sounds easy, right?

You can use half the number of chillies for a milder sambal fishball, or use milder chillies like Kashmiri chillies.

fishballs covered in spicy red sauce in small crystal shot glass with lettuce
Sambal Fishball as brave finger food!

How to Serve our Fishball Sambal?

And in case you’re wondering, sambal fishball is how I say it in Malay, and fishball sambal is in English. Now I know fishball is not in Malay (it’s bebola ikan), but it’s how I would say it were I still living in Singapore or Malaysia.

So this sambal fishball is a side dish. You would eat it as part of a Malay, Eurasian or Indonesian meal, with some rice or even noodles. Below, you’ll find an example of recipes that will go towards making up a meal, along with today’s sambal.

It is also perfect as the sambal for nasi lemak, which is coconut rice and still on LinsFood!

And, if you are feeling adventurous, and have chilli loving friends, serve it as finger food at the end of a cocktail stick, as in the image above.

And now, shall we get cooking?

If you like the recipe and article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx

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fishball sambal in white bowl

Sambal Fishball (Fishball in Red Chilli Paste)

Azlin Bloor
Sambal fishball is an easy, spicy side dish made with Chinese fishballs and perfect as part of a South East Asian meal.
5 from 13 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Malay-Chinese Fusion
Servings 6 (Serves 4-6)
Calories 57 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

To be ground to a paste
  • 20 dried red chillies non smoky
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste (leave out if unavailable)
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 medium cloves garlic
Everything Else
  • 250 ml water
  • 1 Tbsp white sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 500 g fish balls raw, not the fried version.
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice about half a regular lime

Instructions
 

Soak the Chillies

  • Put the kettle on. Then, with a pair of scissors, snip the chillies into 2-3 pieces straight into a medium bowl.
  • Pour the boiling water over the chillies, cover, and leaves to soak for 15 minutes. Get the other ingredients ready while waiting.

Other Prep Work

  • Peel and halve the onion. Then thinly slice half of the onion and set aside. Cut the other half in two and drop into the chopper.
  • Peel the garlic and drop into the chopper. Add the shrimp paste.
  • When the chillies are done soaking, drain and rinse them, then tip them into the chopper. Chop everything into a fairly fine paste. Add a little water if you need it, but it shouldn't really be necessary.

Let's get Cooking

  • Heat the oil in a medium-sized wok or frying pan, over medium heat. Sauté the sliced onions for 1 minute.
  • Then tip in the ground ingredients and fry this chilli paste for 2 minutes.
  • Pour the water into your chopper (to "rinse" it), then pour the whole lot into the wok. Add the salt and sugar and stir to mix. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, until the sambal is reduced and has thickened.
  • Tip in the fish balls, bring the heat back up to medium and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes until the fishballs are done.
  • Check seasoning, and add more salt if it needs it. Take it off the heat.
  • Stir in the lime juice, leave to rest for 2 minutes, then serve.
    Will keep overnight, covered, in the fridge. See notes below about making ahead.

Notes

To Make Ahead
Make the sambal sauce itself up to 2 days ahead (without the fishballs), and store in the fridge. Add the fishballs before serving, heating up the sambal, and cooking the fishballs through.

Nutrition

Calories: 57kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 8gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 166mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 443IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg
Keyword chilli paste, sambal, spicy
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