Sambal Belacan

The Sambal Belacan is the backbone and lifeblood of peranakan food. Eaten together to everything from vegetables to soup, it can be used to cook dishes like sambal prawn and also to form other rempah(spice paste).

What I share here is how my mum sort of prepares it.

Ingredients:
300g red chili
30g chilli padi for kicks
25g belacan (fermented fish paste)
Small Lime




1. Dry toast the belacan at low temperature, turning frequently. Make sure completely dry and crumbly.




2. I am lazy so I blend all chilli in food processor until fine. Add in belacan.

3. During serving time, add in the juice of one or two small lime.

Keep well in jar, refrigerated, but do finish within a few days.



I served this with the Bak wan kepiting ( minced pork soup) soup last night.

Enjoy!

Shin-yeh Taiwanese restaurant at Liang Court

This Taiwanese restaurant serves yummy porridge. Honestly porridge is hearty comfort food so a more rustic place usually serves better stuff. But if you are in the mood for porridge in a nice setting, this is it. shin yeh is under Tung Lok and serves fancy dishes which I didn't try. I only ordered the most basic stuff which I considered porridge classics.




This ikan bilis with peanuts is crispy and fragrant. I like the nuts a lot.






Another classic, steamed meat. Honestly the stock alone is worth the twelve bucks.





The main dish, smooth and watery, just like the way I like my porridge. I always prefer teochew style with a little more liquid.




Omelet with chai po. Fried to perfection.




The finale complimentary muah chee. Having made muah chee before, I know cost price is low, but nice of them to offer us two morsels. Fine peanuts with a good chew.




Oh, they have Chinese tea on a burner to keep tea warm. Good selection of Chinese tea. I had a 冻顶乌龙,not extremely strong, gentle and subtle.