Sambal belacan - sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It captures the essence of Malaysian cooking. A condiment that most Malaysians can't live without. It's usually made of shrimp paste, fresh red chilli, calamansi lime, sugar and salt and by pounding all ingredients together. Every household has its own recipe. Some recipes simply call for chilli, shrimp paste and seasoned with salt. You can adjust the sweetness, saltiness, spiciness and sourness to your taste.
Sambal in general is a type of chilli relish that is popular in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. There are many different versions of sambal. Sambal belacan is named after the belacan (shrimp paste) used in the recipe. Sambal belacan goes well with a lot of dishes. It is often served as a dip for cucumber, prawn crackers or raw vegetables (okra, snake beans, winged beans), as a condiment with the main meal, noodle or rice dish.
Sambal (with or without belacan) is very versatile as you can also use it in stir fry dishes such as water spinach (kangkung), asparagus and eggplant or with seafood such as prawn or fish. Among all the sambal dishes, sambal telur (egg) is my favourite. I will definitely share the recipe with you in the near future.
Ingredients
6 fresh red chillis, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 tsp shrimp paste (belacan)
2 tsp sugar
Juice of 1 lime (Note: Calamansi lime / Limau kasturi is almost impossible to find outside South East Asia, so I have used normal lime as a substitute)
1/2 tsp salt
Method
- Toast the shrimp paste. You can do it by dry frying the shrimp paste in a fry pan over low heat until fragrant. (Note: I prefer to the less messier way by wrapping the shrimp paste in foil paper parcel and toast it on a fry pan over low heat. It will take approximately 2 minutes, turn the foil parcel mid way through heating once.)
- Add chillis, toasted shrimp paste, lime, sugar and salt in a mortal and pestle or a food processor. Pound until a rough paste is formed.
- Serve as a condiment to main meal, noodle, rice dish or as a dip to salad, cucumber, prawn crackers.
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54 comments:
I didn't realise how simple this was to prepare. And thanks for sharing with us the "less messier" technique for toasting the shrimp paste.
Bet it would be great to make some stirfries with Sambal belacan.
Must be real Hot this sambal belacan... the colour is bright red... and yummm...
The hotter the better... love when the heat kicks in!!! :)
Delicious! Making my mouth water just looking at the photos
Your house must smell fantastic in the process of making it. Pungent for some, fantastic for me. Although I won't want the aroma to be lingering around in my apartment for long. eep
Every 'respectable home cook' in Malaysia , Singapore and Indonesia should at least have one sambal belachan recipe stashed away! I won't say no to another one! Time for Nasi Lemak?
This is what I call mouth-watering!
I've never made a sambal. This is definitely something I should look into. Thanks for being so inspiring again.
Nice one. For how long can these be kept in the refrigerator?
Oh! This is a good idea! Toasting it in a foil! I dread making sambal, because of the frying and the great fragrance.
But I so love to eat it!!!!
Thanks for sharing..
Looks beautiful and so simple to make.
A great dip! Shrimp paste is so versatile and gives a lovely flavor to things.
Cheers,
Rosa
@ Three-cookies: You can store it in refrigerator for a week.
Thanks Ellie for the tip !
and always a pleasure to look at your photos !!!Pierre
I love sambal belacan. Last time I made it, my unfortunate dinner guest hated the cooking smell so much she had to leave the house. I think it smells delicious cooking but I guess not everyone agrees!
Isn't the colour to die for ? Great photos, I'll have to give this a go - I've never made Sambal before :)
Oh I looove spicy food but I've always bought my paste... you've inspired me to try it for myself!
I've had shrimp paste on my list for another recipe next time I visit my Oriental Market...now I have two reasons to try it. This looks wonderful. What beautiful colors and love that leaf dish.
Looks spicy! I love to have some available at all times for the days when I crave some spicy food! Will try your version soon!
come sempre una super ricetta!!!!!!buonaaaaaaaaa!baci!
I'm thinking this is the kind of thing that i could get addicted to and would want to put on everything...sandwiches, vegetables, chicken...the works.
My girls always know I'm toasting shrimp paste before they even walk in the door! I usually just bung it in the pan,so next time I'll try this instead. Your recipe sounds lovely, could I use it as a base to cook prawns in too? I had a great dish of sambal prawns with those flavours recently that was fantastic.
@ The InTolerant Chef: You can use this base for sambal prawn but I would advise to add some onion and garlic. Also to adjust the seasongs with some sugar and salt.
I'm excited to see this used in various preparations. I've never had sambal before but I'm sure I'll love it!
This looks delicious Ellie, as everything you make is. A question for you though, to make a vegetarian version what would you substitute the belcan with?
I love you leaf plate too. Where did you get it (if you don't mind sharing)?
@ Jennifer: Thanks! Shrimp paste is the core ingredient and I have not seen a vegetarian shrimp paste product. I am not sure what you can use to replace shrimp paste as it has its unique taste and flavour. I bought the green plate from Target long time ago.
Wrapping the shrimp paste in foil to toast is the best cooking tip of the year. Thanks.
Neat, Ellie. I always love the spicy shrimp sauces and pastes at the Asian restaurants. And I've actually wondered if I could make my own, as I add hot sauce to everything. I like things spicy:)
p.s. I have some trees in my neighborhood that have calamondins on them? They are tiny, sour orange-like fruits. Is that what you mean by 'kalamansi'?!
The red gets focused so well with the green:-) did know that Sambal belacan was so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe.
That's a good idea to toast the belacan in a folder foil..
good tip by foiling the belacan. will have to do that the next time.
Love the intense flavors of sambal paste. Beautiful photos too!
My brother who lived a number of years in Singapore will not be able to impress me anymore now that I know thanks to you how easy sambal is!!!
The foil toasting trick is pure genius. Shrimp paste can burn so easily straight in the pan, too. So, this method makes it near fool-proof and cleanup is a breeze. ;)
This looks delicious. So simple, yet fancy... Thanks for sharing! =)
Nice tip about frying the shrimp paste, Ellie. Great sambal recipe (simpler to make that I thought) and the photo is wonderful!
Gosh, it looks amazing!!! Love your photos.
Sambal belachan is a must have in M'sia. I am M'sian.
you always miss out Brunei when you talk about the countries that these regional dishes are found in :(
Sounds lovely, I've never tried this! But I don't know if I could take the heat though! ;-)
I say two words: "Good stuff"!
Looks so vibrant and bright! Never tried it before but I could imagine the flavour bursts in your mouth! =)
Delicious sambal belacan, love this condiment, very versatile. It goes really well with almost everything.
I fell in love with sambal belacan when I lived in jakarta, but somehow I've forgotten all about it...until now. You make it look so gorgeous!
Yum! Can't wait to give your sambal belacan a try ;)
Your photos are amazing! I love sambal belacan too!
ooh my! i miss sambal belacan! thanks for the tip!
Oh! I never had this sauce sambal belacan, but from the ingredients, must taste really good :-)
Although this recipe is intriguing, I'm most delighted by your photos today, Ellie! The vividness of the colors and freshness of the ingredients makes me want to take deep breaths of fresh, Spring air. :-)
omg- I was just having this the other night with some delish Ayam Bakar. Thanks for the step by step guide yo
The sambal belacan is such a dangerous red! I'm looking forward to the dishes you post with sambal belacan in it!
I really want to try using shrimp paste in cooking but I am a little scared that I will stink up the whole apartment...and our apartment doesn't have the best air circulation. ;)
Ellie, stunning photos, the vibrant red and green, gorgeous.
I had no idea how simple sambal belacan is to make, I need to give it a go.
What a perfect condiment. This looks like a wonderful addition to the flavorings in my kitchen.
great presentation, the combination of lime and shrimp paste is really good. nice comfort food. thanks for sharing.
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