Sambal Belacan Recipe and Video (a Malay Sambal)

Sambal Belacan is a red chilli paste made with shrimp paste that is a must for many families in Singapore and Malaysia. No self respecting Malay home will be without it at the dinner table. Made with fresh chillies, it’s flavoured with shrimp paste and lime juice.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Sambal Belacan

Sambal Belacan Recipe

In Malay:

Sambal – a spicy chilli condiment, sauce and sometimes, side dish
Belacan – shrimp paste (the “c” is pronounced as in “ch”)

This, like so many chilli sauces and chilli pastes or condiments, is extremely easy to prepare and takes only about 10 minutes.

The basic sambal belacan only needs 5 ingredients:

  • chillies
  • shrimp paste (non negotiable here!)
  • limes
  • salt
  • sugar

What is Belacan (Shrimp Paste)?

Click here to read more.

Belacan or Shrimp Paste is made from fermented ground shrimp, sun dried and either sold as a soft paste as in the picture here, or cut into blocks. It is not intended, nor customarily used, for immediate consumption, it has to be fully cooked prior to consumption, since it is raw.

It is the identifying flavour in this sambal.

How to Use Sambal Belacan

In Singapore and Malaysia, and here, at home, it is most commonly used as a condiment alongside your meal, whether that meal consists of rice and various side dishes or is a bowl of noodles, like our Laksa and Mee Siam here.

For eg, last night, we had a very simple meal, consisting of a Malay style vegetable soup, rice and some omelette. The sambal belacan was a must for this, to add bite to the whole ensemble.

They are also to be found at hawker centres, much like you would find ketchup, mayo and vinegar in the West, for customers to just help themselves to.

What are Hawker Centres?

They are open air food complexes consisting of many food and drink stalls, all selling their own special dishes. Some are small, with just about a dozen or so stalls, while others will have well over 20 stalls.

I recently did a post on a much loved Singaporean Noodle Dish called Bak Chor Mee. Now, this Sambal Belacan would do perfectly as the sambal for the noodle sauce. Sambal Belacan also adds spice and depth to stir fries.

Sambal belacan also makes for a fantastic salad dip, and I also use it as a canapé topping.

How Hot Can You Go?

That is completely up to you. My granny’s sambal belacan was always hot but not too hot. I don’t think she used chilli padi (bird’s eye chillies/Thai chillies), just your regular, cayenne or jalapeños. I’ve had some pretty hot ones and these are usually the ones made with just bird’s eye chillies.

My sambal belacan is a mixture of the mild jalapeños and bird’s eye chillies. If you happen to love your chillies, you can always go for any record breaking type you fancy. But always fresh chillies, not dried.

Sambal Belacan is traditionally made with red chillies but you can also go for a mix of red and green, which is not uncommon.

For all thing chillies, you might fancy my still-growing Chilli Page.

Sambal Belacan – Malay Chilli Paste with Shrimp Paste from Singapore and Malaysia.

What about the Belacan (Shrimp Paste)?

Well, it is called Sambal Belacan, so, really, the shrimp paste is a must in here. While I suggest Oriental dried shrimps as a suitable substitute, your result will not have the same depth of flavour.

How much belacan you use is also, to some, extent, a matter of taste. If I remember correctly, my granny didn’t use much, hers was always a slightly brighter red. I adore shrimp paste, so I always use a whole tablespoon as a starting point with the amount of chillies here. Experimenting is the way to go.

The shrimp paste needs to be toasted in a frying pan first, to deepen the flavour. Click here to read more on how to do that.

Pestle and Mortar or Chopper?

When we were very little, it was always made with a pestle and mortar or even the huge granite slab and roller thingy that we called Batu Giling in Malay.

Batu = stone, giling = roll
Mick Jagger?

Pounding will give you a semi coarse texture and really does give you the best result.

But honestly, while I have half a dozen pestle and mortars, I am always more inclined to go down the modern route with sambal belacan and indeed, all the other chilli pastes and sauces I make. Especially when it comes to chillies, as my skin hates chillies!

My granny started doing it too when she got her old trusted Kenwood or Moulinex food processor. This is back in the 80s! If it was good enough for my granny … !

So, in other words, I shall leave that up to you!

That’s it, folks, have fun with it, another recipe in your South East Asian and chilli arsenal! Let’s get our aprons on!

And if you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!

And if you make it, share it on any social medium and tag me!

Lin xx

Sambal Belacan

Sambal Belacan – Malay Chilli Paste with Shrimp Paste

Sambal Belacan is the ubiquitous shrimp paste flavoured Malay chilli paste or condiment found all across Singapore and Malaysia.
4.99 from 61 votes
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Course: Condiments
Cuisine: Singaporean Malay
Keyword: chillies, spicy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8 (Makes a small jar)
Calories: 31kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 5 red jalapeños
  • 5 red bird’s eye chillies
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp white sugar
  • 1 Tbsp shrimp paste (belacan) dry roasted
  • juice of 1 Persian-type lime or 2 calamansi tiny ones
  • the zest of 1 lime optional

Instructions

  • If you are using a pestle and mortar, start by pounding the chillies, sugar and salt.
  • When it has reached the semi coarse stage, add the shrimp, pound for a minute.
  • Then finally, add the lime juice and zest and mix well.
  • Store in a clean jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

If using a chopper, like me, place everything in and chop to a smooth-ish mix, as in the image.

    Video

    Sambal Belacan – Malay Chilli Paste with Shrimp Paste from Singapore and Malaysia.

    Notes

    Sambal belacan is a much loved chilli paste or condiment from Singapore and Malaysia, with shrimp paste.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 31kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 536IU | Vitamin C: 82mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
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    24 thoughts on “Sambal Belacan Recipe and Video (a Malay Sambal)”

    1. Just made this today. Perfect during this cold autumn day. Ate it with raw cucumbers and that hit the spot. Thanks for posting the recipe!

      1. Yep, it’s totally a condiment, whether for noodles or rice, but traditionally, always rice. Having said that, I use it as a cooking ingredient sometimes too, it’s great in stirfries.

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    3. My mouth is watering at the site and description of this recipe. I love the fact that there is also some heat in it. Thanks for sharing!

    4. Asian stir fried noodles always give me a happy tummy! I would love to try the sambal belacan chili paste. We love spicy food and would jump at the chance to try new, authentic, spicy Asian cuisine.

    5. Taty Pradilla

      This looks like a really interesting dish! I haven’t ever tried a shrimp paste before, but I am looking forward to giving this a try!

    6. I’ve never heard of this before, but love trying new flavors. As a first timer I think I’d try it with some rice, which we eat a lot.

    7. this is yummy! i lived in SG and MY for years and now that I am in dubai, I always crave them, lucky we have asian store near our house where i get my sambal in a jar which pretty much satisfies me. Now this post makes me crave again!

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