Stir Fry 3 Kinds Of Beans and Prawns With Sambal Belachan
By: Quay Po Cooks
Published: Friday, October 15, 2010 - 2:01am

Ingredients




Main Ingredients:
1 pound medium size shrimp or prawn, shelled and deveined
8 pieces of French beans, cut into 1 ½ in long per piece
6 pieces of lady’s finger, cut into 1 ½ in long
1 cup petai
Ingredients for sambal belachan:
(A)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
15 shallot,peeled
10 red long chillies
5 cloves garlic
100 grams dried red chillies (soaked for 2 hours, you can add more if you like it more spicy)
1 ts salt
2 tablespoons belacan, fried and mashed
Ingredients for seasoning:
(B)
2 tablespoons tamarind powder
6 tablespoons sugar or to taste
salt to taste
1/2 cup water (add more if necessary)

Preparation

1 Method: 2 Blend (A) in blender or pound until fine. Heat wok with oil and add blended sambal belachan and stir fry for 10 minutes. Add petai, French beans and ladies finger and stir fry till the beans looks darker green, about 5 mins. Add prawns and (B) and stir fry another 10 minutes or until shrimp is cooked but not overdone. Serve with plain white rice.

About


I remember when I cook sambal belachan the first time in the little apartment in California fifteen years back, my hubby asked me what is that pungent smell. I told him is belachan (shrimp paste). I believed this pungent smell is very similar to the pungent smell of blue cheese to me.  It is strange how different cultures perceive food. The following dish is a sambal belachan dish with all my favorite ingredients.  I do not know if petai is available in certain countries but if it is not, you can omit it and the dish will still taste as good.