Sambal Pasta with Prawns

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This sambal pasta with prawns (or sambal shrimp pasta) is a fusion pasta. It came about when I was craving for something spicy, and I saw my bottle of belacan chilli sitting in the fridge. This dish always satisfies my craving for spicy food, and is extra gratifying when accompanied with an ice cold beer.

See Also:

• More Easy One-Dish Meals
• Okra with Sambal Belacan Dip Recipe

Using frozen peeled & de-veined prawns in the freezer + fast-cooking angel hair pasta + store-bought sambal belacan, this dish can be whipped up in under 30 minutes. 

The ingredients & quantity shown below are for 1 person.

First, cook angel hair in a pot of boiling salted water (taking 30 seconds off the recommended cooking time for al dente). Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the noodles. You can mix the cooked noodles with some olive oil to prevent them from drying out and sticking.

This is the supermarket bottle of belacan chilli I used for this recipe (you can use any brand). Warning: This brand is very hot. If you don’t take much spicy food, I recommend you halve the belacan chilli while doubling the ketchup in this recipe.

This is the base of the sambal sauce. It consists of light soy sauce, sambal chilli and tomato ketchup.

Add hot pasta water and stir well to form a smooth paste.

Heat olive oil in a wok pan, cook shrimps until they just turn opaque. Don’t overcook as they are returning to the pan later. Set aside on a plate.

To the remaining oil in wok, add shallots, garlic, chilli and butter. Cook until shallots are transparent.

Add sambal sauce and bring to a bubble.

Add cooked noodles to the sambal sauce, and mix until the noodles are evenly coated in the sauce. Then return the cooked prawns and add a handful of baby spinach.

Cook and toss quickly until the baby spinach is just wilted. Add a few spoonfuls of pasta water to bind everything together. If you want it even more saucy than mine, you can add more pasta water or chicken/prawn stock. That’s it! I usually eat straight from the pan…

… or you plate it & garnish with some coriander. Don’t forget to squeeze lime juice over before eating.