If you’re a fan of spicy sauces, you should try both sambal oelek and chili garlic sauce. But aren’t they the same, you ask?
No, they have some essential differences, so read on to learn more.
What Is Sambal Oelek?
Sambal oelek is a chili paste or sauce that comes from Indonesia. It contains chili peppers, and it may sometimes use a variety of peppers. Other ingredients include garlic, ginger, lime juice, palm sugar, scallion, shallot, and shrimp paste.
The sauce offers a spicy flavor that’s quite bright. You can use it on a variety of dishes, such as many Indonesian foods. If you make the sauce, you can also expect a bit of sweetness from the peppers, and the texture will be quite thick.
There are tons of recipes on the internet for you to try. However, you can also buy the sauce if you prefer not to make it yourself.
What Is Chili Garlic Sauce?
Chili garlic sauce is very similar to sambal oelek. This sauce starts with the same chili peppers to give it some spice and a bit of sweetness. It also features a chunky texture, and you can use it on a variety of foods and dishes.
In chili garlic sauce, you’ll find garlic, rice vinegar, and salt. The garlic adds flavor, so it can pack a punch in the foods you prepare.
Like sambal oelek, chili garlic sauce is available at many grocery stores. However, you can find a recipe if you want to make it yourself.
How the Sauces Compare
At first glance, the sauces may look almost identical. The chili peppers give both sauces their red color, and they have thick textures. However, chili garlic sauce might be a bit thicker than some sambal oelek sauces.
Some people use the names for these sauces interchangeably. While that’s not the worst thing in the world, the ingredients are different enough to make the terms not interchangeable.
Luckily, you can usually substitute one sauce for the other. So if you can’t get your hands on the specific one, you can go with the other. That way, you can get as close to the recipe as possible when making a full meal.
Unfortunately, both sauces have different recipes online. Some recipes of each sauce call for more ingredients, while others are simpler. Be sure to consider the ingredients of each sauce recipe you find.
Then, you can determine if a recipe is more similar to sambal oelek or chili garlic sauce. Knowing that can help you select the right sauce for your needs.
Substitutes for Both Sauces
Maybe you can’t find sambal oelek or chili garlic sauce. You also either can’t find the ingredients or don’t want to make the sauce from scratch.
Fortunately, there are plenty of suitable alternatives. They won’t be identical to either sauce, but you have options if you can’t find what you need.
Sriracha
Many people have compared chili garlic sauce to sriracha. Its main ingredients are chili peppers, garlic, sugar, and vinegar. That’s almost the same as chili garlic sauce, except it has sugar instead of salt.
In recent years, sriracha has gained a lot of popularity throughout the world. The sauce may come from Thailand and not Indonesia. But it’s readily available in many grocery stores, and you can make it at home if you prefer.
Harissa
Harissa is another sauce with a chili pepper base. Unlike the other sauces, this one comes from North Africa, and it uses garlic, spices, and olive oil. Many people add it to stews, but it also works as a sauce.
It can add a bit of flavor and spiciness to whatever you’re cooking. The sauce is also pretty easy to find in some grocery stores. But if you want to make it, there are few ingredients, so it’s not too difficult.
Gochujang
Another alternative is gochujang, which is a Korean sauce. The paste uses chili peppers, fermented soybeans, glutinous rice, and salt. Some recipes add sweeteners, but you don’t have to get a sweet version.
This sauce is more concentrated than a lot of other options. But if you want something thick, it can be a suitable option instead of sambal oelek and chili garlic sauce. For better or worse, gochujang can be a lot spicier than sambal oelek, so keep that in mind when swapping them out.
Red Pepper Flakes
A lot of sauces are good replacements for sambal oelek and chili garlic sauce. But maybe your dish doesn’t need a sauce, specifically. In that case, you can replace the sauce with a few shakes of red pepper flakes.
The red pepper is spicy, and it can add some flavor to whatever you want to eat. Since it’s not a liquid, it can keep from weighing down the dish or adding more moisture. Depending on what you cook, that could be a good thing.
Yakisoba Sauce
Yakisoba sauce combines soy sauce with ketchup, seasonings, and Worcestershire sauce. It’s not as spicy as the sauces that use chili peppers. That can make it a good option for people who don’t have a high tolerance for spicy foods.
You can make it for kids as well who might be a bit picky. This sauce can still provide flavor to any dish you make. If you find that a chili-based sauce is too hot, try yakisoba sauce. The Japanese sauce may go great on noodles, but you can use it on other things.