Sambal belacan
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This sambal recipe is a Malaysian chilli sauce flavoured with belacan, a type of shrimp paste full of umami and depth. Fantastic spooned over all manner of Malay and Singaporean dishes. Take a look at all of Helen's hot sauce recipes here.
Ingredients
- 1 knob of shrimp paste, belacan variety, around 1.5cm
- 9 red chillies
- 4 bird's eye chillies
- 2 shallots , chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , chopped
- 2 limes , juiced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
Equipment
- Pestle and mortar
Method
1
Toast the block of belacan in a dry pan on all sides until it starts to break up. Keep doing this until it crumbles into small pieces (around 3 minutes). Set aside to cool
2
Deseed the chillies and chop them into small pieces
3
Add the chillies to a pestle and mortar with the salt and pound to a rough paste, then add the shrimp paste, shallots, sugar and garlic and pound until you have a paste (it may be helpful to do this in batches)
4
Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and mix. Taste and add more lime juice if necessary
5
Finally, stir in the oil, which will help to preserve the sambal. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days
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Sambal belacan
