Most sambal oelek sold in Asian market around the world is made only from chili pepper, salt, and vinegar.
However, in Indonesia, sambal has hundreds of variations since Indonesians often add terasi (shrimp paste), shallot, garlic, lime juice, tomato, candlenut, and even green mango to the sambal mix.
In brief, the variation has no end.
The Flavor
Due to their distinctive ingredients, sriracha and sambal are absolutely differ in flavor.
Sriracha with its relatively high amount of sugar is sweeter than sambal.
We can smell the strong aroma of garlic in Sriracha when the aroma of pure chili pepper is more dominating in sambal.
On the contrary, since sambal has less sugar or even no sugar in it, sambal tastes more savory than sriracha.
The Texture
As mentioned above, sambal is made by grinding it with pestle and mortar.
The grinding process gives chunkier texture to sambal.
On the other side, sriracha is pureed with machine so that it has the consistency of smooth and thick sauce.
