Sambal Sauce

This might sound kind of strange, but I keep restaurant supply bottles in my refrigerator at home. I have a spray bottle filled with a 2:1 ratio of apple juice to apple cider vinegar that I use to mist BBQ as it smokes. I also keep a spray bottle filled with Dale’s sauce to spray on burgers as they grill. I keep squirt bottles of the following:

• Mustard-based, SC-style BBQ sauce for ribs
• Vinegar/tomato/pepper-based, NC-style BBQ sauce for pulled pork
• Mayonnaise-based, AL-style BBQ sauce for smoked poultry
• Buffalo chicken sauce (made with a 3:2 ratio of melted butter to Crystal hot sauce)

But the sauce that earns the most compliments is one that I pulled straight from an issue of Bon Appétit. It’s called Sambal, and it’s an Asian-inspired sweet and spicy sauce that works great as a marinade and a glaze. I always scramble to find the recipe when I need to refill my squirt bottle, so I thought I’d post it here for posterity.

Sambal Sauce

• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup hot chili paste
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup Sriracha
• 2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger

Just mix everything thoroughly and use on grilled vegetables and bland meats like chicken and pork. It goes especially well with jasmine rice.

The photo above is of the Sambal chicken from the Bon Appétit recipe. I like to serve it over coconut rice with an Asian-style salsa that incorporates some of the Sambal sauce in lieu of chili paste.