Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Indonesian

Sambal kecap

Vegetarian

Indonesian sweet soy sauce stirred with sliced bird's eye chillies, shallots and lime — a sticky, sweet-salty dip for satay, grilled fish and fried tofu.

Sambal kecap is an Indonesian sauce, ready in about 5 minutes and made with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and fresh red chilli. It serves 4 and is rated beginner to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep
5 min
Cook
0 min
Total
5 min
Serves
4
Level
Beginner
Calories
56

Ingredients

4 servings of 30 g

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the kecap manis (opens in a new tab) with the lime juice (opens in a new tab).

  2. Step 2

    Stir in the chillies, shallots (opens in a new tab) and tomato (opens in a new tab), if using. Leave for 5 minutes so the shallots soften slightly.

    • 3 min
    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Stir and spoon over satay or serve in small dishes for dipping.

    • 1 min

About this dish

Origin
Indonesia · Well documentedMore food from Indonesia
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Sauces · Dips & spreads
Cooking method
No-cook
Taste
sweet & spicy, salty, tangy
Diet
Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · Low-fat · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Everyday
Cook more with
Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) · Fresh red chilli · Shallot · Lime juice

Allergens

  • Contains: Wheatfrom kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
  • Contains: Glutenfrom kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
  • Contains: Soyfrom kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

56 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 35 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 8%
  • Carbohydrate 82%
  • Fat 11%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy56 kcal161 kcal
Protein1.1 g3.3 g
Carbohydrate11.8 g33.8 g
Net carbohydrate10.7 g30.6 g
Sugars6.8 g19.4 g
Added sugars9.6 g27.5 g
Fibre1.1 g3.2 g
Fat0.7 g2 g
Saturated fat0.1 g0.3 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol1 mg2 mg
Sodium313 mg894 mg
Salt equivalent0.8 g2.2 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
97 mg
Calcium
13 mg
Iron
0.4 mg
Magnesium
9 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
3 µg
Vitamin C
11 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
11 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: tomato.
  • Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce): Hoisin sauce (FDC 172886) used as a stand-in for this thick palm-sugar-sweetened soy sauce; sugar and sodium differ by brand.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Slice the chillies and shallots as thinly as possible so every spoonful carries a little of each.

Common mistakes

  • Using regular soy sauce instead of kecap manis — the dip loses its sticky sweetness.

Serve with

  • With sate ayam or sate kambing, ikan bakar (grilled fish), fried tofu or tempeh.

Storage

  • Best the day it is made; keeps 2 days refrigerated.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Goes with

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

Customise in Sauce & Drizzle

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

You might also like