Sambal Roa

This is meant to be made with smoked roa fish, which is a species of halfbeak, but because I’m in the UK at the moment I used smoked mackerel and it tasted perfectly fine. But yeah, for the purists out there of course sambal roa should be made with ikan roa. Takes 30-45 minutes all in all.

Adapted from here.

☑ TESTED

Ingredients

• 220 g smoked roa (or just smoked mackerel)
• 100 g shallots
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 125 g red birdseye chillis
• 60 g red cayenne chillis
• 200 g tomato, diced
• 6 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced

Cooking

Blend up the shallots, garlic, and chilli

Break up the smoked fish and fry in a little oil until browned and a little tough (~7 mins, medium heat)

Grind the smoked fish in a pestle and mortar as best you can (don’t worry too much - see photos)

Using the oil from earlier, fry up the blended bits, lime leaves, and ground fish together until fragrant

Add the tomatoes and a little water if it’s dry

Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes turn to mush and there’s not really any liquid left (~10 mins, low-medium heat)