Sambal Belacan

Get Recipe

A bottle of homemade sambal belacan (belachan) is surely a handy condiment to have in the fridge. You can add some at the side to any local dish such as fried bee hoon and fried rice. As a condiment, it makes any dish taste better. I swear I will be happy eating plain white rice with only sambal belacan! :)

Note: The more belacan (shrimp paste) you use, the darker the colour of the sambal chilli. To suit my personal tastebuds, I used more than the stated quantity in the recipe, hence the darker shade. I love adding more belacan when making this chilli for stir-fries. If using it solely as a condiment, I use less belacan, i.e. the actual quantity stated in the recipe.

You can use sambal belacan for stir-fries (pictured above), or fry it with some dried shrimps, garlic and shallots for a more Chinese version of spicy dried shrimps, or more commonly known locally as hae bee hiam. Making your sambal belachan is really easy since there is no cooking involved (except for toasting the belacan beforehand). It stores in the fridge for slightly more than a week.

See Also:

• Sambal Okra Recipe
• Sambal Kangkong Recipe
• Sambal Sweet Potato Leaf Recipe