The Klungkung red chili, which grows in the Klungkung region of Bali, has the reputation of being the hottest of its kind.

So does the jumbo cayenne pepper of Cibiuk in Garut, West Java.

These reputations were made based on those who sampled the signature sambal of these regions, without reference to the Scoville scale.

Instead of using the formal Scoville heat units (SHU) system, sambal makers typically note the fieriness of their sauce with numbers from one to 10, according to the amount of chili they have used.

The higher the number, the more diabolical the taste.

Street food vendors selling nasi goreng (fried rice), tahu gejrot (fried tofu in sweet spicy sauce) and rujak (spicy fruit salad) usually ask customers how many chilis they want in their sauce before making it.

One is the safest answer.

Such a privilege, however, doesn’t exist in restaurants where sambal is the signature dish.

The following is a selected list of restaurants in Jakarta famous for their homemade sambal.

(JP/Indra Harsaputra)

Rawon Setan
(in front of JW Marriott Hotel) Jl. Embong Malang No. 78 ISurabaya, East Java

Rawon Setan (The Devil’s Rawon) is a special beef stew from Surabaya, East Java. As the name suggests, foodies will find the dish tastefully rich and extremely hot.

The stew is black as keluak (black nut) is the main spice.

The restaurant is named after the devil because initially it was just a small food stall that opened at midnight — the time when devils appear, according to local people.

Apart from beef stew, the restaurant serves other local delicacies, such as rib stew, iga penyet (“smashed” ribs marinated in sambal), tahu telur (tofu with eggs) and tahu campur (fried tofu with fresh lettuce, boiled noodles, bean sprouts and a sweet and sour sauce).

(JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)

Rumah Makan Cibiuk
Several branches in Indonesia

The sambal in this restaurant, which serves the cuisine of the Sundanese people of West Java, is no ordinary sambal.

It is rich with history and famous for its heat — which will burn your mouth.

The first restaurant in the business was established in Garut, West Java. Its secret recipe for chili paste has been passed down for decades among the members of the family of Sheikh Jafar Sidik, a respected figure in the region.

Cibiuk sambal is made of jumbo cayenne peppers mixed with tomatoes, shallots, lemon basil, aromatic ginger, salt and shrimp paste. Unlike typical sambal, which is ground into a smooth paste, Cibiuk sambal is coarse.

There are several sambal choices on offer at the Cibiuk restaurant. The favorites are the green and red sambal, mango sambal and the super-hot sambal ceurik (which means “to cry” in Sundanese).

The meals served include various types of pepes (steamed and grilled meals) and ayam bambu (bamboo-cooked chicken).

Nowadays, Cibiuk has more than 40 outlets in several cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta; nearby Bogor, West Java; and the city of Bandung, also in West Java, about 150 kilometers from the capital.

The Klungkung red chili, which grows in the Klungkung region of Bali, has the reputation of being the hottest of its kind.

So does the jumbo cayenne pepper of Cibiuk in Garut, West Java.

These reputations were made based on those who sampled the signature sambal of these regions, without reference to the Scoville scale.

Instead of using the formal Scoville heat units (SHU) system, sambal makers typically note the fieriness of their sauce with numbers from one to 10, according to the amount of chili they have used.

The higher the number, the more diabolical the taste.

Street food vendors selling nasi goreng (fried rice), tahu gejrot (fried tofu in sweet spicy sauce) and rujak (spicy fruit salad) usually ask customers how many chilis they want in their sauce before making it.

One is the safest answer.

Such a privilege, however, doesn'€™t exist in restaurants where sambal is the signature dish.

The following is a selected list of restaurants in Jakarta famous for their homemade sambal.