Today I make sambal belacan chilli paste again. The ones I made last week were all gone and I only gave 2 cups worth away. The daughter complained she wanted to eat more.

We happened to go near a Chinese supermarket yesterday so I bought the biggest bag of dried chillies and 3 packets of fresh chillies I think amounted to a kg. I spent yesterday deseeding the dried chillies of as much of the seeds as I could. Took quite awhile but I have breaks for chocolates and coffees so no hardships.

Today daughter is home to help do washing up so she asked me to cook. In return I have to mark a big tub as hers and everyone don’t touch.

The recipe is simple and please adjust to your taste.

NOTE

• How spicy you want your sambal is entirely up to you. Sometimes you just cannot get spicy chillies and at other times they blow your head off – so there cannot be a fixed recipe.
• If the sambal is too spicy add more sugar. I prefer to use brown sugar but it is entirely up to you.
• Chillies seeds do not make your sambal more spicy. Please Google and read or should I say educate yourself. I hate to eat chilli seeds.
• Toasted belacan gives a more umami taste.
• Salt helps to draws out taste of everything so add some.
• Adding vinegar helps in preserving your sambal but hey it never last in my house! You can bottle them, vacuum seal them and they last forever.
• It took me on low heat about 2 hours for this batch discounting the deseeding dried chillies time and boiling time.
• Remember the taste mature the next day and it taste more mellowed.
• Enjoy eating knowing that your sambal is cooked with love and you can eat as much as a jar a day – kekekekeke
• There are so many uses – can add in dried shrimps, ikan billis, onions, garlic and anything you like to it.

Nasi lemak is special, special to the hearts of all Malaysian. Although in my household one would think my husband was an Asian in his last life, or so all my elders (family & friends) members seems to think so.

The most important expect of nasi lemak is the nasi lemak sambal. Each person seems to have his/hers own special recipe as well as each household.

One can have nasi lemak with fried fish, chicken, sardines sambal, prawns sambal, sotong sambal and for me the dreaded petai sambal. (I just cannot get on with the smell of petai!)

There are limitless types of food you can serve nasi lemak with but the old school MUST have is the sambal sauce, the cucumber, peanuts, boiled eggs, and fried crispy ikan bilis (anchovies) served with fragrant coconut and pandan leaves flavoured rice.

This is my nasi lemak sambal recipe. I have a little chat with a good friend and finally found out what I have been missing in my nasi lemak sambal kuah (sauce). I was never quite satisfied with mine till now. I have since cooked this twice to make sure. Now I am extremely satisfied and felt I can share this. I do not document food I do not like.

Put this sambal in air tight containers and vacuum sealed. I have even posted to friends who are extremely happy with it. You can absolutely freeze them for a lazy day.

In this pic you will see my nasi lemak share platter which I served with tri-coloured rice. I cooked the nasi lemak sambal the night before and on the day itself I boiled plain coconut and pandan rice with a couple slices of ginger, then I did the same with pandan juice and saffron. I like a nice presentation, yes I do. Food taste much nicer if they are pleasing to the eyes.

TIP – After I fried my ikan bilis and removed from hot oil with a sieve I like to sprinkle them with a dusting of icing sugar while still hot. This makes your ikan bilis stay crispy longer and a lot more tastier. It’s the combination of salt and sugar that is irresistible. However you do not have to do so.

p/s I am sure you do not need me to tell you how to boil nasi lemak However do not forget your liberal pinch of salt.

Update (06/09/2020) – today I added galangal as part of my ginger portion and I really love the taste

Please note that I fried a bunch of anchovies (ikan billis) first then used the oil to cook the kuah. In the kuah itself I add in extras minced ikan bilis (not the fried ones) and minced undang kering. These really add extra ‘ooooomph’ to my kuah in my opinion. After the kuah is done then I added in a portion of the fried ikan billis and saved some for garnishing.

I make this sambal udang balacan/belacan a few times a year. It is when we, the family kept asking me when I am making again or when my friends persuade me “when you next make sambal udang belacan can I book 10 jars please” then only I make.

Now I am not sure how to write a fix recipe as I have never measured my ingredients. I taste as I make and add a bit of this and that to make it resemble the taste I know. The taste of how my mother’s sambal used to taste like.

When I was a youngin’ when my mother made this, we always make them into sandwiches Do you know dried shrimps sambal that has a generous amount of dried shrimps taste amazing with buttered bread? If you have not try before, try it. My husband loves this on buttered brioche rolls.

Now as I said I have not measured my ingredients. when I asked my mother she will tell me a bowl of this and half a bowl of that. So I will attempt to tell you. However sambal is one of those dish you can make your own. There is absolutely no right or wrong. When I first started making I tried to add this and that (not mentioned by my mother) but in the end I do not like the taste. Not nostalgic lah. so I stick back to the basic ingredients. If for any reason I want to use this sambal to cook other things then I will add other ingredients as and when.

Take this recipe as a guide and make your own as sometimes our onions has a stronger taste or our chillies is hotter. I remember one time I bought some chilli powder that were so hot! I of course had to add more sugar. I will give you tips to adjust.

Oh yes when using the dried chillies, snip off the heads a bit and empty out as much of the seeds as you can. When I was young grandma use to say don’t let the males eat chilli seeds or they can’t pee – kekekekekeke Funny things I remember from young but now that I am all grown up I know that it is the spicy hot food that can increase bladder pain and inflammation in some people thus making it hard to pee for them. BUT there is some truth in so called ‘old wives’ tales after all!

Asam Laksa can happen in Hertfordshire, England.

A couple of decades ago I I was missing Asam Laksa so much but it was near impossible to find all the ingredients here. I was ‘importing’ my stash every time I balik kampung

My stash included torch ginger (bunga kantan), polygonum odoratum (daun kesum) and calamansi lime (limau kesturi) but nowadays they are able to be gotten here but still not easy.

Today I have decided to use some of my stash from Malaysia to cook Asam Laksa as I am going to replenish my stash soon.

For my paste I like to add a small bit of turmeric and galangal (blue ginger) Both these ingredients are easy to find here in Chinatown.

TIP 1 – To get a clear fish broth sieve it once with a normal sieve then sieve it a second time by placing a sheet of kitchen roll on your sieve as an extra lining for a much clearer fish broth.

TIP 2 – Blend your spices till fine. I like to blend some of my lemon grass and torch ginger besides adding some to boil with the broth.

TIP 3 – Remove the big bits from your broth before adding in your fish meat.

Updated 8/08/2021

Actually Asam Laksa is very easy to cook. Years of working and cooking for a family you learn to organise yourself.

I like to boil and picked my fish the night before and the next day just blend and fry the paste. Mush easier and less stress.

Note – I have tried ordering asam laksa outside and I have yet to find one I am willing to part my ££ for! A famous restaurant in Chinatown which I once took a Japanese friend to try (after singing the virtue of how cool and different asam laksa is) was a HUGE let down.

When I queried, the waitress told me it just tin sardines + chilli + asam jawa water and the people working there don’t even eat it! Till this day I am still shocked!

When I read some good reviews recently I think I have to go and try again to see if they have ‘updated’ their asam laksa OR maybe I am just fussy? – kekekekekeke

A good asam laksa (my opinion)

1 – The broth should not be a murky dark brown or look like curry. It should be a clear fish broth with hint of red chilli oil.

2 – The mackerels if you have picked yourself should be in chunks not in bits.

3 – The taste should be sour, spicy, taste of lemongrass, galangal and most important of all the combo of torch ginger and laksa leaves!

Note – Remember the heh ko/prawn paste is sweet. Use as much or as little as you like.

Sarawak Laksa – a dish I cook a few times a year when I feel the urge and when I really, really miss the taste and when I feel a bit hardworking. I always ended up slurping a big bowl of the broth though.

I am quite particular when cooking Sarawak Laksa. I will buy fresh prawns, clean them, fry the heads and make a big pot of prawns broth. You can do this days or weeks ahead.

Then I will buy a corn fed chicken and boil it for chicken broth. Both the broths with be combined to make the main Sarawak Laksa stock. First fry the Sarawak laksa paste and then add in both the broths and bring to a boil. Let the stock simmer slowly for an hour or so or as long as you can stand it, before sieving and transferring to another clean pot.

TIP – You can make this the night before than on the day itself you only need to reheat and add in your coconut milk and evaporated milk. When I make this I never have enough broth and even worse when I invite my friends who all insist on tapaus! I think next time NO tapaus

To make the sambal to go with this I always used the sieved paste. My way is to fry the paste with the ‘oil’ from the Sarawak Laksa broth and add belacan, dried chillies & udang kering (dried shrimps). Season with a pinch of sugar to taste. Please refer to the pics.

Sarawak Laksa is special to all who have grown up with it. In fact for Sarawakian aboard the mere mention of Sarawak Laksa will make us really homesick! This is the same as Asam Laksa to Penangites. Non other paste in the world can compare to it’s distinctiveness. One taste you will be hooked forever. Like my friends here who have never eaten Sarawak laksa before until I cooked for them. Now they will always ask me for Sarawak Laksa when we do have a gathering. However my pastes are precious.

I am indeed lucky to have classmates who will bring over and classmates who will send me the paste. I am seriously considering importing Sarawak laksa paste to sell in the UK ——- if only I were 10 years younger and bother to – kekekekeke

Last Saturday a few of us met up for a get together to celebrate the Malaysian Carnival at https://www.brickendonbury.co.uk/view-blog/merdeka-malaysian-carnival-23rd-september-2017-9/ It was a fun chin wag alongside plenty of food.

A friend gave me a very fresh packet of curry leaves and I’ve been thinking of ways to celebrate them. It is not that easy to get such fresh curry leaves in the UK. As I have some frozen leaves in my freezer already I decided to go to town with these to use them fresh today and tomorrow. 

Often we think of something we would like to eat with the flavours we love. I was thinking about crispy pork belly for a few days so I decided to combine them and my fresh curry leaves. Hence this very moreish dish is born.

Torch Ginger Flower Chicken cooked with belacan aka shrimp paste – Sambal Belacan Ayam Bunga Kantan. For reason unknown I love torch ginger, the smell, the taste, it’s fragrance, I just love them. When I got 2 huge jars from a friend who came back to UK from Malaysia I happily spent days thinking how to make good use of them. My friend spent time going to the markets in Ipoh, (Perak, Malaysia) and bought all the bunga kantan he could find, sliced them and semi fried them in oil. Then he packed them into jars and brought them all the way to UK for me with love.

Hence this dish – Torch Ginger Flower Chicken cooked with shrimp paste