If you’ve never tried Sambal Telur (Eggs in Spicy Sambal), this South East Asian side dish will blow your taste buds out of the water. Think the satisfying goodness of hard boiled eggs paired with the fiery heat of spicy Indonesian sambal sauce.
Why We Love This
There’s nothing better than thinking you have nothing to cook and remembering this little number. Only 5 ingredients and ready in 10 minutes. That’s my kind of cooking!
This super snack is so versatile! Serve it as a side with dinner, then mashed on toast the next day for breakfast or as a cold salad for lunch. Use it as a base recipe, adding vegetables and tofu to make it into a full stir fry with rice for dinner. You’re only limited by your imagination.
What is Sambal Telur?
In Indonesia, there are literally hundreds of different varieties of sambal, and even more when you take into account all the varieties that can be found across Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and even Brunei.
All these different varieties can be broken down into two main categories – cooked sambal and raw sambal.
Cooked sambal is what you’ll find in recipes like today’s Sambal Telur (eggs) and Sambal Udang (prawns), while raw sambal is a condiment served on the side to add an extra kick of flavour and heat – just the way you like it!
The day we discovered Sambal Telur, it was just one of many platters of Indonesian goodies spread before us as we took a seat on the cosy picnic blanket. Surrounded by friends and the smell of freshly cooked sates and curries, it was an Indonesian feast of epic proportions in the small town of Kagoshima, Japan, of all places.
Here, a bowl of spicy fragrant Kari Ikan (a creamy Indonesian fish curry) sat waiting to be served. There, a stack of freshly fried Bakwan Jagung (Indonesian corn fritters) awaited a splash of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and tempted us with their crispy, crunchy goodness.
In the centre of it all was a steaming bowl of white rice beside a small but aromatic bowl of Sambal Telur. We could almost taste the tingling zing of spice just looking at the boiled eggs in their coating of the spicy sauce.
I glanced across at our friend who’d brought us to this Indonesian food fiesta and asked ‘How hot are they?’
Her reply was a smile and a giggle, and to that we simply said: “Challenge accepted.”
What You’ll Need
We love making things as quickly as possible in the kitchen, so for this we use sambal oelek in a jar from our local supermarket in the Asian aisle or you can make your own from scratch:
Homemade Chilli Sambal Sauce
Prefer to make your own sambal? It’s definitely going to give you a more intense, fresh flavour. Use either a food processor or mortar and pestle (even better if it’s a traditional Indonesian ulekan+cobek – flat stone mortar and pestle!) and the following flavour-packed ingredients:
- 6 – 8 fresh red chillis
- 2 shallots
- 1 tbsp belacan
(shrimp paste)
- 1 clove garlic
All you need is a little elbow grease (or some lazy electricity) to blend them all together until smooth.
Enak sekali! (Very delicious!)
For the kaffir lime leaves, you can purchase these fresh, frozen or dried at your local Asian supermarket or online. We conveniently have a kaffir lime tree growing in our backyard, which comes in handy as we cook this dish and Choo Chee Chicken alllll the time! If you can’t track them down, substitute with a teaspoon of grated lime zest, a splash of lime juice or omit altogether.
How to make Indonesian Eggs in Spicy Sambal:
Boil eggs in a medium saucepan from cold water. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes for slightly soft yolks or 8 minutes for hard boiled.
Heat up the oil in a medium saucepan with the heat on low-medium and plonk in your onion rings. Saute until lovely and translucent (1-2 mins) but don’t allow to burn as it will change the flavour.
Next, pop in your sambal paste and kaffir lime leaves and stir fry until the mixture has loosened and it’s nice and fragrant. If it starts to burn, turn down the heat slightly and add a little water.
Finally, add your boiled eggs into the pan with the sambal and stir fry until heated through (2-3 mins should do it!).
Serve beside your favourite spicy curries and don’t forget the rice!
Wandercook’s Tips
- You can fry the eggs in a little oil by themselves before adding the sauce, for a slightly different take on the recipe.
- Serve hot as is – we love mashing up the eggs and serving it in hot toasties.
- Serve cold as a salad. For an extra creamy touch, add some mayonnaise.
- Sambal telur goes great alongside rice and curries.
- Keep your eye on the heat – make sure to turn it down if it starts to stick or add a little water.
FAQs
We’d recommend no longer than a few days in the fridge. It’s a relatively small batch though, so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finishing it in a day or two. Why not have it hot with dinner then cold the next day as a side salad?
Cook the eggs how you like it. Instead of boiled eggs, you could try frying, scrambling or poaching them in the sauce instead. Whatever way you cook it goes well for breakfast with toast or rice.
Sambal is a chilli paste which originated in Indonesia hundreds of years ago. There are said to be an amazing 200+ variants of sambal in Indonesia alone! Sambal is a versatile sauce used from anything from a condiment, coating, soup base, sauce topping or marinade.
Variations
- If you can’t find kaffir lime leaves, substitute with one teaspoon of lime zest or a splash of lime juice.
- Add anything else you like to the sauce, including tofu, chicken, vegetables etc. Make a complete meal out of it.
- Add 1/3 of a cup of coconut milk or cream if it’s too spicy for you, this will make it creamy and tone down the heat.
- If you’re not a fan of onion rings, dice them small instead.
Want more Indonesian treats? These are some of our favourites:
- Creamy Indonesian Fish Curry
- Indonesian Pork Satays
- Indonesian Gado Gado Salad
- Bakwan Jagung – Indonesian Corn Fritters
- Roti Coklat – Indonesian Chocolate Hagelslag
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment & star rating below!
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 onion small, sliced in thin rings
- 2 kaffir lime leaves chopped finely
- 6 tbsp sambal paste homemade as above or store bought
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
- Boil eggs in a medium saucepan from cold water. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes for slightly soft yolks or 8 minutes for hard boiled.
- Heat up the oil in a medium saucepan with the heat on low-medium and plonk in your onion rings. Saute until lovely and translucent (1-2 mins) but don't allow to burn as it will change the flavour.
- Next, pop in your sambal paste and kaffir lime leaves and stir fry until the mixture has loosened and it's nice and fragrant. If it starts to burn, turn down the heat slightly and add a little water.
- Finally, add your boiled eggs into the pan with the sambal and stir fry until heated through (2-3 mins should do it!).
- Serve beside your favourite spicy curries and don't forget the rice!
Video
Recipe Notes
- You can fry the eggs in a little oil by themselves before adding the sauce, for a slightly different take on the recipe.
- Serve hot as is – we love mashing up the eggs and serving it in hot toasties.
- Serve cold as a salad. For an extra creamy touch, add some mayonnaise.
- Sambal telur goes great alongside rice and curries.
- Keep your eye on the heat – make sure to turn it down if it starts to stick or add a little water.
- How long does sambal telur last? We’d recommend no longer than a few days in the fridge. It’s a relatively small batch though, so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finishing it in a day or two. Why not have it hot with dinner then cold the next day as a side salad?
- Do I have to use boiled eggs in the sambal? Cook the eggs how you like it. Instead of boiled eggs, you could try frying, scrambling or poaching them in the sauce instead. Whatever way you cook it goes well for breakfast with toast or rice.
- What is sambal? Sambal is a chilli paste which originated in Indonesia hundreds of years ago. There are said to be an amazing 200+ variants of sambal in Indonesia alone! Sambal is a versatile sauce used from anything from a condiment, coating, soup base, sauce topping or marinade.
- If you can’t find kaffir lime leaves, substitute with one teaspoon of lime zest or a splash of lime juice.
- Add anything else you like to the sauce, including tofu, chicken, vegetables etc. Make a complete meal out of it.
- Add 1/3 of a cup of coconut milk or cream if it’s too spicy for you, this will make it creamy and tone down the heat.
- If you’re not a fan of onion rings, dice them small instead.
26 Comments
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes
08/05/2017 at 10:32 pmI’ve never tried sambal, but I love spicy food!!! This sounds amazing- I wish I could eat it right off the screen!
Wandercooks
17/05/2017 at 8:27 amHahaha Sarah, you make us laugh! Love that you like spicy too – in that case, we definitely recommend using extra sambal and seeing if you’re up for the heat challenge!
Julia
08/05/2017 at 9:45 pmOh, wow! At first I wasn’t really sure about the recipe but when I read the ingredients for the paste I realized that these eggs would taste phenomenal!!! Now I need to find the shrimp paste! What an unusual recipe!
Wandercooks
17/05/2017 at 8:26 amHope you can find the shrimp past Julia! If not, you might be able to find the sambal pre-made on Amazon. 🙂
Cliona Keane
08/05/2017 at 9:44 pmOh wow these sound amazing! I love Asian cooking and boiled eggs so I think you may have just shared my ideal dish!
Wandercooks
17/05/2017 at 8:25 amHaha, that’s great to here Cliona. We love boiled eggs too – especially for breakfast because it’s so easy and quick. The sambal is sure to wake you up too!
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables
08/05/2017 at 8:58 pmYum! I’ve never had sambal sauce but it looks really flavorful! This recipe sounds awesome!
Wandercooks
17/05/2017 at 8:24 amThanks Liz, it is so flavourful! For such a simple dish, it’s amazing the complexity of flavours you have just from the combination of the egg, onion, kaffir and the sambal.
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry
08/05/2017 at 6:15 pmI bet that chilli sauce packs a punch! Love this dish looks so fragrant and delicious
Wandercooks
17/05/2017 at 8:23 amOh it does Bintu! Depending on how much you love spice – it’s up to you if you halve the sambal amount…or double it!
Anne
08/05/2017 at 12:33 amOMGGG THIS LOOKS AWESOME! EGGS ARE MY FAVE and these flavors are just amazing!
By the way, I am so loving your blog right now! Everything looks soooo delicious!
Wandercooks
08/05/2017 at 5:10 pmHahaha oh Anne, you just totally brightened up our day! So glad you’re enjoying the blog and hope you enjoy your very own Sambal Telur – let us know how you go if you get the chance to cook it up!
Mark, CompassandFork
05/05/2017 at 6:07 pmI think one of the joys of cooking is to experiment with food from different cultures and sambal fits that category. I love making SE Asian dishes and this just looks to delicious not to try!
Wandercooks
08/05/2017 at 5:09 pmThat’s our passion in a nutshell hahaha 😀 There’s so much flavour in South East Asian cuisine, and so many amazing combinations to experiment with!
Igor @ Cooking The Globe
05/05/2017 at 5:22 pmI need to order that Sambal sauce because I hear it quite often but it’s not available in my country. These eggs look so simple yet so delish!
Wandercooks
08/05/2017 at 5:08 pmIt’s definitely a simple dish when you know how to make it, 5 minutes and you are in spice heaven haha. Good luck with sourcing your sambal, and feel free to try making your own version with the ingredients you can get your hands on. Knowing you, you’ll no doubt create something totally delicious!
Helene D'Souza
05/05/2017 at 4:28 pmI wish we could get shrimp paste in India, it’s just not common, except maybe online, but I doubt it being of a good quality. Most probably I will end up going to Bali or Thailand one day just to get shrimp paste. ^. ^ Your dry sambal looks great btw! 🙂
Wandercooks
08/05/2017 at 5:06 pmHey Helene, thanks for stopping by! Hope you’ll be able to give it a try 🙂 You could always try substituting the belacan for fish sauce (it’s best to double the amount of fish sauce used when you do this). It won’t be quite the same – after all, belacan has a rather pungent, unique aroma – but it will definitely help you get closer to the flavour you’re after in your sambal.
Brian Jones
05/05/2017 at 2:28 pmThat sounds awesome, I have a recipe for an ‘Indian’ boiled egg curry and it is a perfect combination of the fiery spices and the cooling effect of the eggs.
Wandercooks
08/05/2017 at 5:03 pmOoh that definitely sounds delish, would love to give it a try!
Brandi Crawford
05/05/2017 at 9:21 amI love eggs and I love spicy. This is definitely a recipe I should try.
Wandercooks
05/05/2017 at 9:28 amSounds like it was made for you Brandi, hope you enjoy!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
04/05/2017 at 10:13 pmWe certainly love spicy and I could eat eggs morning, noon, and night. I’m pinning and will be making them soon. Great photos!! I want to grab the eggs and run.
Wandercooks
05/05/2017 at 9:27 amOh gosh us too Marisa, you won’t believe how many eggs we go through in this household haha! Sounds like you might just need to make up your own batch in secret – then you won’t have to share! 😛
carlos at Spoonabilities
04/05/2017 at 7:55 pmI never heard of this dish before. I’m a huge fan of international cuisine and use different spices. I will try this recipe. Thank you,
Wandercooks
05/05/2017 at 9:26 amSo glad we could prompt a new discovery – hope you like it Carlos, would love to hear what you think! 🙂