Sambal Belacan

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

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Sambal Belacan Recipe

A little warning though – your kitchen will smell kind of pungent when you make sambal or when you cook with sambal – but to me, a small price to pay for something so delicious. Feel free to tweak the amount of chilli and belacan to suit your preference.

Serves: a small bottle

Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 5 finger length red chilli deseeded
• 3 to 5 chilli padi aka bird’s eye chilli (no need to deseed – for the heat; to taste)
• 10 grams belachan toasted in a dry pan
• 1 tsp sugar to taste
• 3/4 tbsp lime juice from small limes (calamansi)
• 1/8 tsp salt to taste

Tools Needed

• A mini blender/food processor OR mortar & pestle

Directions:

1. In a blender, grind chillis and belachan. You can also pound the ingredients using a mortar & pestle.
2. Make the sambal. Transfer blended paste to a small bowl. Add sugar, lime juice and salt to taste. Stir to mix well. You can store the chilli in refrigerator for about a week. It can be used as a chilli condiment or in stir fries.

Noob Cook Tips

1. Wear disposable plastic gloves when de-seeding chilli to prevent chilli burn.
2. If you do not have calamansi (small lime), you can substitute with larger lime or lemon (though calamansi gives it the best taste).

Ingredients Used: belacan • chilli • lime • sugar