Sambal belacan made at home means you control how much of the good stuff goes in. This is the fried version, the kind that sits beside radish cake, noodles, char kway teow and fried rice. The recipe makes enough for two to three jars.
It also works as a cooking paste. Stir-fry French beans, long beans or almost any meat with it.
What you need
- 100g dried chillies
- 20 chilli padis
- 150g shallots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 30g belacan powder
- 200g dried prawns, soaked
- 3 candlenuts
- 2 stalks of lemongrass: slice 5cm of the white base thinly and keep the rest of the stalk
- 2cm piece of turmeric, chopped small
- 2cm piece of ginger, chopped small
- 2 kaffir lime leaves
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp tamarind pulp (assam), mixed with 2 tbsp water
- 100ml water for blending
- 100ml cooking oil
The method
- Mix the tamarind pulp with 2 tablespoons of water and leave it for five minutes. Strain it and keep the juice.
- Snap the stems off the dried chillies. Boil them in a pot of water for about five minutes, until soft.
- Drain and rinse the chillies, then grind them to a paste and set aside.
- Grind the sliced lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, shallots and garlic together. Add the chilli paste, belacan powder, chilli padis, candlenuts and soaked dried prawns. Pour in the 100ml of water to help the blades along.
- Heat the oil in a wok until medium-hot, add the paste, then lower the heat. Stir gently and constantly.
- After five minutes, bruise the reserved lemongrass stalks and drop them in.
- Tear the kaffir lime leaves into the wok.
- Fry for another 10 minutes, then season with the sugar and salt.
- Keep frying for five to 10 minutes more, until the paste looks drier.
- Turn off the heat and move the sambal to a deep dish. Let it cool completely before spooning it into jars. Keep the jars in the fridge.
Tips and variations
Keep the seeds. Deseeding is fiddly, and it also takes about half the heat out of the chillies. Leaving the seeds in saves time and keeps the paste properly hot.
Adjust the heat. The 20 chilli padis give a fiery aftertaste on top of the dried chillies. Add more if you like the burn to linger on the tongue.
Watch the stirring. The paste needs low heat and steady attention. It should slowly darken and dry out as the oil separates, and the oil and the dried prawns carry the flavour. Stirring continuously also stops the sugar and the ground ingredients from catching on the base of the wok.
Be patient at the end. The last five to 10 minutes of frying decide the texture. A drier paste keeps better and clings to noodles and rice instead of pooling around them.
Use the aromatics. The lemongrass stalks and torn kaffir lime leaves go in partway through, not at the start. That keeps their fragrance from cooking away in the early stage.
Serving and using it
Spoon it beside fried radish cake or toss it through noodles and fried rice. It also works as a base for stir-fries. Fry a handful of French beans or long beans in a spoonful, or cook sliced meat in it until coated.
Because it makes two to three jars, you can give one away. Cool the paste fully before jarring and keep it refrigerated, as the recipe directs.