Sambal Okra with Dried Shrimps
This sambal okra with dried shrimps (参巴秋葵) is a hot & spicy local style of cooking okra (lady finger). Sambal is a chilli paste popular in Southeast Asia and adding dried shrimps enhances this stir-fry with an added savory depth.
See Also:
- Okra in Ponzu Sauce Recipe
- Okra with Sambal Belacan Dip Recipe
- Sambal Okra (Without Dried Shrimps) Recipe
Similar Sambal Recipes:
This is adapted from my stir-fried sambal kangkong and sweet potato leaf recipes. My family does not eat okra because of its inherent sliminess. However, the cooking method reduces the sliminess to some extent though not fully, so my family is willing to eat some okra for once.
The resultant sambal sauce is a dry one, as compared to stir-frying other greens using the same method. My theory is that the sliminess absorb the liquids, which in turn reduces the okra’s sliminess to some extent. The dry sambal dried shrimp sauce is so savoury and goes very well with plain rice.
As usual, this is a bottle of short-cut sambal belacan sauce I used for my sambal stir-fries. This is a huge time-saver for me when making sambal dishes. If you have more time, you can use homemade sambal belacan to replace the instant sauce.
Okra Sambal with Dried Shrimps Recipe
To minimize the slime/stickiness, cut cooked okra to longer sections. But if you don’t mind the stickiness, you can slice them thinly.
Ingredients:
- 200g okra (ladies finger) tops & ends trimmed & discarded; sliced to short sections
- 10g dried shrimp (虾米)
- 50ml hot water
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 5 shallots (or 1/4 small red onion) sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp cooking oil divided
- 1 finger-length red chilli sliced to thin sections
- 1 chilli padi sliced to thin sections for extra heat; to taste
- 1 heaped tbsp sambal belacan paste instant or home-made; to taste
- tiny pinch of salt to taste
- 1-2 tbsp water add more as needed
- 1 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shaoxing)
Directions:
- Prepare dried shrimps. Soak dried shrimps in a small dish with hot water until softened, about 20 minutes. Reserve and set aside the dried shrimps soaking water.
- Prepared grinded spices. Add softened dried shrimps, garlic and shallots to an electric food grinder or blender. Add 1 tbsp oil and pulse for a few seconds. Alternatively, pound the ingredients in a mortar & pestle or finely chop them.
- Cook the dish. Heat remaining oil in a wokpan. Stir-fry grinded spices briefly until fragrant. Add cut okra and dried shrimp soaking liquid. Stir fry for 30 seconds, then add sambal belacan paste, chillis, salt and water. Stir fry until orka is cooked, about 2 minutes. Drizzle Chinese wine along the sides of the wok walls during the last 10 seconds of cooking. Stir to coat well before serving.