Cumquat Sambal

Name: Cumquat Sambal
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 8 cumquats (about 100g); 50g large red chillies; 30g peeled and roughly chopped ginger; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 tablespoon rice vinegar; 1 tablespoon castor sugar; 1 teaspoon salt flakes

I’ve eaten Cheong Liew’s cumquat sambal many times. He served it with barbecued hogget at a barbecue for Franz’s 55th birthday and he and Franz served it with lamb cutlets to thousands of people over 2 days at a James Beard festival in New York. Cheong’s given me the recipe several times and each time it’s a little different from the previous iteration, so here’s my version recreated from taste memory. It’s obviously a very fluid recipe, so feel free to tweak quantities of ingredients to suit your own taste; it is already quite spicy with just two chillies. Depending on the region, cumquats are generally in season from mid-autumn into winter.

Makes about ¾ cup

Ingredients

8 cumquats (about 100g)
50g large red chillies
30g peeled and roughly chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon rice vinegar, or more to taste
1 tablespoon castor sugar, or more to taste
1 teaspoon salt flakes, or more to taste

Method

Quarter the cumquats, discarding any obvious seeds as you go. Place in the bowl of a food processor (skin and all).
Seed and finely chop the chillies and add to the bowl.
Add garlic and ginger and pulse into a paste.
Transfer to a bowl and stir in vinegar, sugar and salt.
Taste and add more if you like.
Set aside for an hour or so.
Serve cumquat sambal with lamb, pork, poultry or seafood and store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to a week.