Friday, February 8, 2013

Dried Shrimp Sambal

Ladies and gentlemen,
What's the recipe for the day? I think you already know it? Obviously, Dried Shrimp Sambal or you can even call it Dried Prawns Sambal (Prawn Mango Curry, Sambal Udang Petai & Prawn Cocktail). Both also can. Dried shrimp (Shrimp Pho & Shrimp Pad Thai Salad) or dried prawns for me personally does not matter. Maybe dried shrimp (Shrimp Paste Fish Sambal) is smaller in size or maybe a different kinda of prawns? I really don't know. Maybe yes or maybe no, but the point is that they are basically about saltiness and they are basically dried in the sun (Sambal Bilis Petai & Nasi Lemak Sambal Udang). Of course, one of my favourite ingredients. A tiny bit goes a long way for our Malaysian dishes, whether for veggie stir frying or other dishes (Mee Rebus & Mee Siam). And instead of just sharing with you on how to make this Dried Shrimp Sambal, a chilli based dish (Asam Pedas Ikan), I thought I might as well assemble it as sandwich (Egg Benedict, Lamb Burgers, Grilled Fish Sandwich & Vegetarian Sandwich). As for the basil leaves, not necessarily. You can replace basil leaves with other herbs, maybe curry leaves? Dried Shrimp Sambal? Tucked and filled into bread, or a scoop over steamed veggies or perhaps flavour enhancement for whichever dish you think you can or should add into. 

Ingredients
For the paste
1 cup dried shrimps - soaked in water for 15 mins, drain off water and pound/ground prawns coarsely.
2-3 tbsp fresh red chilli paste (or as needed)
1 tbsp shallot paste (or chopped shallots)
1/2 tbsp ginger paste (or chopped ginger)
2 tbsp tamarind/asam juice
A small handful of basil leaves (or any other suitable herbs)
3 tbsp oil
Powdered palm sugar - as needed (or white sugar will do too)
Salt for taste
Method
When oil is heated, fry chilli paste, shallot paste and ginger paste.
Stir and cook till oil splits.
Add shrimp and cook while stirring for another 2 to 3 minutes. 
Pour in tamarind juice.
Season with sugar and salt.
Simmer for a thick paste. 
Off the heat, combine in basil leaves and cool down the paste. .
To make the sandwiches, spread the paste on toasted bread. 
Top with cucumber slices and tomatoes.
Optional: another slice of bread can go atop as well.  

5 comments:

  1. Prawn paste sandwich...wow...its mouthwatering.... :-)

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  2. I absolutely love this sandwich, it looks ridiculously delicious :D
    Definitely a priority :)

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  3. hi nava, you are making me smile, who would ever thought of makingdried prawn paste sandwich,,looks very delicious and original :))

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  4. I love this sandwich paste, looks perfect Nava, I need to find these kind of sandwiches.

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  5. That toasted wheat bread looks utterly delicious, replace the filling with non seafod (for allergic people) or just eating the bread will taste just as good I'll bet, as the sides look good too

    ReplyDelete

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