Sambae – Tasty Sambal Stingray Rice Bowls in Ang Mo Kio!

To me, sambal stingray has always been a sharing dish among friends due to their portions. Now, thanks to newcomer Sambae, we can enjoy a well-proportioned stingray even if we are dining alone! Sambae’s sambal stingray rice bowls are designed to satiate your cravings without you having to worry about finding people to divide and conquer the dish with. 

Conveniently located within the Ang Mo Kio heartlands, the stall is run by the ambitious 24-year-old Noel Phua. The young hawker’s got a few accolades and is trained in culinary arts. He has a Nitec cert in Asian Culinary Arts and placed third in the ASEAN Skills Competition, and has worked as a line cook in restaurants. 

As for the inspiration behind his menu choices, it turns out that Noel had shared the same concerns as I did about sambal stingray portions. Driven by that and a desire to incorporate local elements into the rice bowl trend, he sought out the advice of his brother-in-law, who owns a stall himself, about the know-hows of setting up a stall of his own. 

All that was left after that was naming his stall which was inspired by his very own bae aka girlfriend. 

Apart from sambal stingray ricebowl, the menu also has Sambae Sotong Rice Bowl ($7.50) and Kangkong Prawn Rice Bowl ($6.90), all of which come with an onsen egg. There’s also egg fried rice that comes plain ($4) or with chicken ($6) and prawn ($8), along with a sambal version with the same options at an additional charge of $0.50. 

There’s also good ol’-fashioned sharing dishes such as Sambae Stingray ($15/19) and Sambae Lala ($12/14), as well as sides of Sesame Spinach ($2.90) and Crispy Mermaid ($5.50), the latter being akin to ikan bilis according to Noel. 

The Sambae Stingray Rice Bowl with Onsen Egg ($7.50) sees three pieces of stingray topped with a  liberal amount of house-made sambal sauce atop a bed of pearl rice, and accompanied with onions, sliced pickled cabbage and a wobbly onsen egg. 

Combining stir-fried shallots with hae bee hiam and ground chillies, brown sugar and turmeric powder for the sambal sauce, the sambal was a sweet and flavourful paste with a fiery heat that slowly but surely creeps up on you. The sambal was made even more delicious with the refreshingly sour tinge of the lime on the side. It was also easy to eat the clean, white flesh of the stingray though there were a couple of stray bones we had to watch out for. 

I love how the creaminess of the onsen egg’s yolk made the rice yummier, and even abated some of the heat from the sambal occasionally. The pickled cucumbers were also a bracing palate cleanser that complemented the heat and flavours of the sambal chilli. 

I also decided to give the Sambae Fried Rice with Prawns ($6.50) a go to see how well the sambal chilli was incorporated here. The grains had a decent amount of wok hei and while you can’t exactly taste the sweetness of the sambal through the smoky flavours, its spiciness was definitely present. There were five prawns which was fairly generous in number and each one of them was nice and crunchy, though it would have been nice if they were seasoned a little. 

Taking a break from the spicy sambal, I had the Chicken Nanban ($4.90) which sees fried chicken slathered in a house-made tartar sauce. The tender chicken was a perfect match with the sweet, tangy and creamy sauce. I would have liked it better if the batter of the chicken was crispy, but ultimately, this was quite a satisfying dish. 

Sambae definitely knocked it out of the park when it comes to their sambal chilli and the idea of stingray rice bowls is most definitely a welcome one. They’re also offering a 10% discount for healthcare workers (we always support those who support our country’s heroes) — just simply flash your ID or show up in uniform!

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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