Sambal Belacan

This is one of those recipes that makes me do this face: o.O

What do you DO with it? I assumed it was like a condiment, a side dish served with curry. So that's what I did. But now I think it would probably work best as a base for stir fry or curry or suchlike.

Basically, it's a chilli paste. Or at least that's the idea.

Okay, so here's the recipe.

Blend 12 large red chillis in a blender with 2 tablespoons of dried roasted shrimp paste (which I found in the "Asian" section of our local supermarket (All of Asia!)), 150ml water and 4 tablespoons of limejuice.

That's it.

A couple of observations: I think there was too much water. Maybe when they say "12 large red chillis" they mean dried ones? I dunno. The whole thing came out way runnier than I think it was meant to be.

Also, WOAH that shrimp paste is POTENT stuff. My whole house smelt of it for HOURS. It is strong. If you don't like fishy things, you're not going to be keen on this. It actually doesn't taste as strong as it smells, but the smell was enough to nearly put me off trying it.

I am glad I tried it though, because it tastes quite different to how it smells. I am still not wildly convinced, but I can see that it would make a good base, as I said. Anything you might use fish sauce for, I expect this would work too.

Anyway, we now have a big jar of it in our fridge. Which, you know, I guess we'll use up. Over many months.