Boy, the sound of this dish sure is extreme when you translate it into English. Reminds me of Halloween somehow. But hearing it in Bahasa delivers a calming sensation to my nerves. 'Sambal goreng ati ampela', I associate this with deliciousness, bursts of flavor, and family :D.
But, still, basically this dish really is chicken liver and gizzards cooked in chili, and if you're not used to this type of eating, then this is extreme for you, while it's like candy to me :P.
Indonesia has many varieties of sambal goreng, every region has their own take on it, this is only one of them. This is the sambal goreng I grew up with, even though nowadays my mother has altered her recipe, but this is the flavors that I recognize and will soon share with you (complete recipe in the bottom of this post).
What I've done here is I've cleaned and cut up to bite size pieces all the liver, gizzards and hearts. I should have showed you how it is done, but I forgot to record it, sorry. Basically, just take out all the foreign looking dirt, slime, colors, excessive fats and remaining blood from all the surfaces and crevices. Cut open the hearts because sometimes you can still find coagulated blood pieces in there, and you don't want that (this is sounding pretty gory, but this is cooking :D, and sometimes it can sound pretty horrific you know).
The spices that I used for this recipe is pretty simple and straightforward: 4 big shallots, 2 cm of blue ginger, and 1 bay leaf. This is basically the key to the recipe itself, anything else added into this is just to accentuate the basic flavors which come from these three. This is the basic layer of the sambal goreng, if you're short on other ingredients, using these three can still save you (though without the chili, it will not be sambal goreng anymore, but the chicken liver and gizzards would still be edible).
Next is the ground chili paste. Basically it's the red chili, ground up with some salt and a little bit of water. You can either use a food processor or do it manually, but make sure the consistency is as fine as the one pictured above. I got this one ready made by the way :).
Coconut cream is a must for this recipe, though other varieties of sambal goreng does not call for coconut milk or cream, but to me this is a must. My fondest memory of sambal goreng is seeing the coconut milk clinging to the bits of liver, giving it a more mellow, soft and slightly spicy taste, so this needs to be in there for sure.
I am also going to include potatoes into the mix, because that's how my grandmother and my mother have always made it. The composition to the chicken liver and gizzards can be however you want it to be, 1:1 or 2:1 etc, no strict rules here. For me, I used 4 small potatoes and make the composition somewhat 1:1.
Another must for this recipe is stink beans! or lovingly known as pete in bahasa. I used about a small bowl of whole stink beans (uncut), because I need the strong aroma to penetrate through the potatoes and the strong iron-ey flavors of the liver. And as I've said before, combination of coconut cream and stink beans.....haa....no words......
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So what's the difference between palm sugar and regular cane sugar? Well cane sugar is sweet but palm sugar is sweet and delicious, no contest there.
So now, let's start cooking.
First step is to deep fry the potatoes. The potatoes need to be half way cooked or almost cooked with an almost golden color to it (not crispy). The fried potatoes will be added to the sambal goreng at the very last stage, just before we remove it from heat. It will absorb the flavors of the sambal goreng and finish cooking in that final step. Be careful not to make the potatoes too soggy, it will be unsightly and less enjoyable when we eat it.
This is somewhat the look we're looking for. I fried these on medium-high heat, therefore we can get that golden yellow color but the inside is not entirely cooked through. This process took a bit longer that I expected, around 10-15 minutes, so make sure you spare enough time for this step.
The next step is to actually make the sambal goreng.
1. Heat oil on medium heat, and stir fry the shallots, bay leaf and blue ginger.
2. Once the shallots are beginning to soften and the fragrance starts to come out, put in the chili paste.
3. Cooking with chili like this can be a pain, I could not stop sneezing and tears plus snot starts to come out in streaks all over my face. If you want, you can wear a mask at this point. I have been cooking ever since I was in High School (so it has been a long time, unfortunately), and still I am not impervious to this T-T.
4. In this step I added 1/3 chicken stock cube and salt. Keep the saltiness level one higher up than what you would like, because when the potatoes come in, the saltiness will be absorbed by the potatoes, and if it's not salty enough to begin with, the sambal goreng will become bland. Obviously you can add in more salt to it and let it cook some more along with the potatoes, but this way the potatoes can become too soggy, and this is not what we want.
5. Add some water to this step, let it boil and then in goes the chicken bits, stir and cook until it's half way done (the color will change for the most part, leaving just a slight pink in the middle of the cuts).
6. This will be a good time to toss in the stink beans. Stir but be careful not to agitate the livers too much because they easily break.
7. When the dish starts to smell more and more fragrant from the stink beans (I'm not being sarcastic, the stink beans do make the food smells fragrant), Add the palm sugar, I used 2 tbsp here, because I like the sambal goreng to have that sweet finish. Not like candy, but enough sweetness to be carried through all that chili and other strong spices. Put the palm sugar little by little to see how you like it. If you like it less sweet, then don't put in as much as I did. But, I think, I did great :P.
FYI, the same amount of palm sugar is not as sweet as regular cane sugar.
8. Don't forget to taste the food in each step of the cooking process, so you know where you are taste wise. Tinker it to your liking as best you can, which means the measurements I give you in this post may or may not apply to your taste buds, so feel free to adjust.
9. Add the coconut cream. 1 small packet is enough. Why coconut cream at the end? Well I was told by a physician that this is a healthier way to consume the coconut cream/milk. If it is cooked for too long, the coconut cream/milk will form an element that will clog your arteries, and that won't be good.
10. Lastly, toss in the potatoes, stir and let it come to a boil again before we turn off the heat.
And that's the whole process, it wasn't too difficult right? Most importantly, with these simple steps, you get an amazing dish! :D
As you can see here, the potatoes are not soggy, they still maintain their shape, but with that last bit of cooking, it becomes soft and tender and very enjoyable to eat.
I have to say, the stink beans are looking pretty awesome here, and making me salivate, but as much as I love the taste, I don't eat the stink beans. This is just personal preference. They make my pee stinks, so I stay away from those in terms of actually putting them in my mouth. But I do love cooking with them for the aroma they give off is just heavenly.
I hope you find this post useful. I have also made a video of the cooking process, hopefully it's informative for you.
Here's the complete recipe. Tell me how your experience went, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to add.
Sambal Goreng Ati Ampela (Spicy Chicken Liver and Gizzards)
Chicken liver and hearts (1 packet)
Chicken gizzards (1 packet)
4 small potatoes
1 small bowl of stink beans (pete)
4 big shallots
1 bay leaf
2 cm blue ginger
3 tbsp chili paste
1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
2 tbsp palm sugar
1 small packet coconut cream
1/3 chicken stock cube
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