Sambal hari ini · today's sambal
Oelek.
Sambal Nusantara · the archipelago in a cobek
Indonesia has hundreds of sambals. Researchers at Universitas Gadjah Mada counted 257 that fit the definition of a condiment. This independently compiled atlas brings together survey entries, regional accounts and documented recipes: where they come from, what goes into the stone mortar, what to eat them with, and which one you are.
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Kenal sambal · what is sambal
Chilli, pounded with whatever the island grows
Sambal is a chilli relish ground in a cobek, a shallow stone mortar, with an ulekan pestle. The chilli is a constant. Everything else changes from island to island: citrus in Sulawesi, smoked fish in Manado, peanuts in East Java, fermented durian in Jambi. Most sambals fall into three families, and the same three colours mark them on the map.
Chilli is a newcomer
Chillies come from the Americas and reached the archipelago through Portuguese and Spanish trade in the 1500s. Before then, heat came from native long pepper, cabe jawa.
Java has the most
Both major surveys find that Java, the island that grows the most chilli, has the largest share of sambal varieties, followed by Sumatra.
The mortar matters
Pounding crushes cells and releases oils that a blender chops past. A cobek also lets you leave texture: rough for raw sambal, smooth for cooked.
Peta sambal · atlas
From Sabang to Merauke
Each ring counts the sambals recorded for a province, split by family. Tap a ring to zoom in: the cards below then show only that province’s sambals. Hover a card to find it on the map. Individual markers appear where a location was already recorded; province-only profiles are available in the panel.
Raw
Cooked
Fermented
Stylised map; island outlines are simplified. Scroll sideways on small screens. Rings show each province’s profiled sambals by family.
Every sambal in the atlas
All 257 sambals are profiled with a description, representative ingredients, suggested pairings, sources and a flavour chart. Recipes vary between households; each profile presents one version rather than a fixed standard.
No sambal matches. Clear a filter to see more.
Rak sambal · your little corner of Nusantara
My sambal shelf
The jars in your kitchen, the sambals on your wish list, and the flavours you remember. Saved on this device, in this browser only. No sign-in or cloud sync. Clearing this site’s browser data removes your shelf; export a backup to keep it.
Your flavour journey
A taste of the archipelago
Provinces represented by sambals on your shelf or tried before. Choose a province to explore its sambals.
Rempah · the spice shelf
What goes into the cobek
The ingredients that give each region its accent. Names are Indonesian first, English second. Ingredient illustrations are stylised, not photographs.
The Spice Islands came first
Long before chilli arrived, cloves from North Maluku and nutmeg from the Banda Islands drew Arab, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch ships to the archipelago. Rempah built the trade routes that later carried chilli in.
Padanan · what are you eating?
Name a dish, get three sambals
Any cuisine works. Claude picks three sambals from the profiled ones in this atlas and says why each one suits it.
Cut the richness
Coconut curries, rendang and fried food want acid. Raw sambals with lime, tomato or unripe fruit, like dabu-dabu, acan or lado mudo, clean the palate.
Echo the fire
Grilled fish and meat suit smoky or toasted sambals. Roa and cakalang bring smoked fish; terasi brings toasted shrimp.
Fresh with fresh
Seafood and salads go with sliced, uncooked sambals like matah and colo-colo, which add aroma without weight.
Sweet calms the heat
Cooked sambals with palm sugar or peanuts, such as bajak and pecel, are gentler. They suit children, vegetables and anyone new to chilli.
Kepribadian · personality quiz
Which sambal are you?
Eight quick questions. Your answers build a flavour profile across heat, funk, sourness, sweetness, freshness and richness, then match you to the closest profiled sambal.