Sambal Oelek - zero carbs???

Shikamoo

Huy Fong's Sambal Oelek lists zero carbs on their nutritional information, so I've been happily adding this delicious chili paste to many of my recipes, but . . . I have a very hard time believing that anything made primarily of chilies can have zero carbs.

Does anyone have any knowledge about sambal oelek chili paste and its supposed lack of carbs?

Karen_Cronometer

Hi Shikamoo,

Since this product has a small serving size (1 tsp), my guess is there are few enough carbs that this value is rounded down to zero on the label. "Hot Chili Peppers, Red, Raw" have <1 g of carbohydrates per 5 grams serving on their own.

You might like to use the closest generic alternative to get an estimate of the nutrients in this product, rather than using the rounded values provided on the label.
Cronometer has "Chili sauce, store bought" or "Hot Chili Sauce, Sriracha" (this one seems to match the sodium content better) that have a more comprehensive nutrient profile. Both of these have just under 1 g of carbs per 5 g serving.

Best,

Shikamoo

Ahhh . . . that explains it! Very sneaky of them to put it down to a 5g serving where they can round the carbs down to zero. I use that stuff in multiples of 30g easily!

I will take your tip and try using the generic chili sauce listings, thanks!