**3.** *Cabai* **utilization and applied products in Indonesia**

Since its first coming to Indonesia, *cabai* has been widely utilized in the food and culinary industry. Besides that, *cabai* in Indonesia was also utilized in the pharmacy as transdermal medicine (plaster, oil, balm, and cream) and as ornamental plants due to its attractive and unique fruit colors.

#### **3.1** *Cabai* **in Indonesia food and culinary culture industry**

*Cabai* is considered as an important ingredient since it is inseparable from Indonesian food culture as is shown in some of Indonesia dishes in **Figure 10**. During a meal, if *cabai* is not included in the dish seasoning, it will be served separately as "*sambal*," crushed *cabai* mixed with various other ingredients and commonly eaten alongside the main course, or the *cabai* will be served to be eaten raw. Some people even consider something missing in their meal, and it would not be "complete" if their food is not spicy or there is no *sambal* to be eaten with the main course. Therefore, their satisfaction with the food will decrease. Over time, the way of people consuming *cabai* was developed, and *cabai* was transformed into processed food products, such as sauce and powder, as the complementary dish of the main course (**Figure 11**).

The utilization of *cabai* in local cuisines may vary from vegetable-based food such as stir-fry vegetables or as a sauce (or like salad dressings) together with peanut in mixed vegetables, such as *gado-gado*, *pecel*, and *karedok*. *Cabai* is also mixed in meat-, chicken-, and seafood-based cuisines, such as *rendang* (Indonesian famous pungent cuisine), *gulai* (spicy curry), *asam padeh* (spice and acid fish curry), and other dishes. "Balado" is an Indonesian dish that combines any type of food ingredients with *cabai merah*, for example, egg *balado*, fish *balado*, chicken *balado*, *dendeng* (dried meat) *balado*, eggplant *balado*, and shrimp *balado*.

#### *3.1.1 Sambal: An Indonesian traditional crushed cabai*

*Sambal* is an Indonesian famous and essential complementary cuisine made from *cabai* as the main ingredient. It is a crushed or grounded *cabai* with or without any other ingredients. Generally, *sambal* is known to stimulate appetite or to increase food palatability [8]. Before *Capsicum* came to Indonesia, *sambal* was originally made from ginger. Then people started to prepare *sambal* from pepper (*merica*) and *cabai Jawa* (*Piper retrofractum*) [58]*.* Since *Capsicum* spp. was introduced to Indonesia and cultivated, *sambal* was dominantly made from *Capsicum* spp.

#### **Figure 10.**

Cabai *as an inseparable ingredient in Indonesian cuisines. (A)* Cabai *slices are mixed as ingredient in daily cuisine, (B)* Sambal *and* cabai sauce *in meat balls cuisine, (C)* Cumi balado *(calamari* balado*) as an example of* balado *dish, (D)* Rendang, *Indonesian famous spicy cuisine with* cabai *as one of essential ingredient.*

**Figure 11.** *Common cabai processing product in Indonesia. (A) Sambal terasi, (B) cabai sauce, (C) cabai powder.*

Almost every region in Indonesia has their own types of *sambal*. There were about 322 types of sambal in Indonesia, and they varied over the nation with 119 types of raw sambal, 138 types of cooked sambal, and other types of *sambal* [59]. *Sambal terasi,* as seen in **Figure 11(A)**, was made from *cabai merah*, *cabai rawit*, *terasi* (fermented shrimp), onion, garlic, salt, and sometimes tomato. *Sambal roa* from Manado, North Sulawesi, was made from *Capsicum* and smoked *roa* fish*,* which can be found abundantly in some particular areas. *Sambal tempoyak* from southern Sumatra was mainly made from *Capsicum* and *tempoyak*, a fermented durian. Other examples of *sambal* variants are mango *sambal*, *andaliman sambal*, *matah sambal*, various kinds of fish

**15**

**Figure 12**.

*3.2.2 Capsicum chocolate bar*

chocolate bar can be seen in **Figure 13**.

*Diversity and Potency of* Capsicum *spp. Grown in Indonesia*

available in the area influenced the ingredients included in *sambal*.

sweet to spicy, but its pungency level is usually lower than *sambal*.

and seafood *sambal,* and sweet soy sauce *sambal*. The local culture and commodities

*Cabai* sauce or "saus cabai," as seen in **Figure 11(B)**, is described as a sauce made from *Capsicum* sp. as the main ingredient and processed with or without the addition of other legitimate food additives [60]. *Saus cabai* is usually made from *cabai*, salt, onion, and garlic, with the addition of cornstarch as a thickening and binding agent [61]. The ingredients are sorted and washed, and then, *cabai* is steamed, mixed, and grounded with other ingredients. Cornstarch solution is added, and the mixture is cooked. Acidity regulators and preservative agents are added and mixed before *saus cabai* are packed and stored [61]. The flavor of *saus cabai* varies from

*Cabai* powder, as seen in **Figure 11(C)**, is used as an ingredient to bring up spicy taste in savory processed food such as instant soup, instant noodles, and snacks. In 2012, a company developed a mixture of *cabai* powder with other ingredients such as onion, garlic, pepper, and also with particular fish and shrimp. The addition of fish and shrimp has enriched the umami taste of *cabai* powder products in Indonesia. "Tasty chili powder" with umami and spicy taste is developed as an innovation of *cabai* powder, and a new habit of eating *cabai* emerged in Indonesia with this dry powder as a condiment to be sprinkled on top of the food instead of dipping or mixing the food in *sambal*. The spiciness of tasty chili powder varies up to several levels from low to high. In the making of this powder, the ingredients were sorted, blanched, dried, grounded,

and packed [61]. Tasty chili powder contained up to 16.8 ppm capsaicin [62].

*Manisan cabai* is sugar-sweetened *Capsicum* slices, which is commonly eaten as a snack. It is usually made from thick-skinned red *Capsicums* such as *cabai merah besar* (*C. annuum* L.). The processing of sweetened *Capsicum* started from seed removal. The remaining skin is soaked in the salt solution to remove the pungent flavor. Then, *Capsicum* is soaked in CaCO3 solution to harden the texture before being soaked in the warm sugar solution for 6–12 hours to absorb the sugar. The sweetened *Capsicum* may be dried and sprinkled with sugar. Then the resultant products are being packed and stored. Besides altering *Capsicum*'*s* taste by masking the pungency and increasing the sweetness, which makes *Capsicum* likable by children, this process also lengthens the shelf life of *Capsicum* due to high sugar concentration. The example of sweetened *Capsicum* is shown in

*Capsicum* chocolate bars tasted like typical chocolate bars at early bites, but the pungent taste of *Capsicum* will appear after several bites. Although *cabai rawit* (*C. frutescens*) used in the chocolate bar has quite strong pungency level, it can be covered by the high content of chocolate (58–60%) [63]. An example of *Capsicum*

**3.2 Other rare and unique foods from** *Capsicum* **in Indonesia**

*3.2.1 Manisan cabai/sweetened capsicum*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92991*

*3.1.2 Cabai sauce*

*3.1.3 Cabai powder*

and seafood *sambal,* and sweet soy sauce *sambal*. The local culture and commodities available in the area influenced the ingredients included in *sambal*.
