Friday, October 15, 2010

Stir fry 3 kinds of beans and prawns with sambal belachan

I remember when I cook sambal belachan the first time in the little apartment in California fifteen years back, my hubby asked me what is that pungent smell. I told him is belachan (shrimp paste). I believed this pungent smell is very similar to the pungent smell of blue cheese to me.  It is strange how different cultures perceive food. The following dish is a sambal belachan dish with all my favorite ingredients.  I do not know if petai is available in certain countries but if it is not, you can omit it and the dish will still taste as good. 



Main Ingredients:
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 lb medium size prawn, removed shell and deveined.
1 tbs sugar
8 pieces of french beans, cut into 1 ½ in long per piece
6 pieces of lady’s finger, cut into 1 ½ in long
1 cup petai, halved and seed removed

(A)
Sambal sauce ingredients:
10 pcs shallot, peeled
10 red long chillies
5 cloves garlic
100 gm dried red chillies (soaked for 2 hours, you can add more if you like it more spicy)
2 tbs dried shrimps
1/2 in cube belacan, fried and mashed
3/4 cup water
salt and ground white pepper to taste

Method:
Marinate prawns with sugar for 10 minutes. Put (A) in blender and blend well . Heat wok with oil and add blended sambal belachan sauce and stir fry for 10 minutes. Add petai, french beans and ladies finger and stir fry till the beans look darker green, about 5 mins. Add prawns and (B) and stir fry another 5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked but not overdone. Serve with hot steamed rice.

12 comments:

  1. I never tried petai beans, but the rest of the ingredients sounds yummy for my taste

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi GG,
    Another name for petai beans is stink beans. These beans are an acquired taste. In my country they are sold in bunches, still in the pod, or the seeds are sold in plastic bags in the wet market and sometimes in supermarkets. The after effect is not favorable to many because it they give a strong smell to one's urine, an effect that can last up to two days after eating:D I only eat petai when my hubby is away on a biz trip because I know he will hate the after effect. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another flavorful dish!! Some ingredients that might be harder to find, but love the flavors.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't get over all the flavourful dishes that come out of your kitchen.I'm sure you will reach your goal for recipes posted.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Belinda,

    Yes I know for sure petai is hard to find for you but believe shrimp paste should be available in the Chinese market if you have one there. Sometimes, I wish my foodie friends are staying nearby so that I can invite them to my home for dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anna,

    My goal to to have 1000 recipes, so if I post one a day, it will take me almost 3 years! No wonder when I told my hubby my goal, his look is like "DUH??" hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks absolutely fantastic, as usual. From what I see, you look to cook so much that you'll have no problem reaching your goal and going way beyond!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love coming here. You are introducing new ingredients that
    i have never heard of. We don't have a chinese market here, but I love learning.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi The Mom Chef,
    There are still lots of recipes from my Mum and hubby that I need to put up and on the way I will also experiment with fusing their recipes to make new ones. This has been a really fun project for me, also a very meaningful one. I just told my hubby yesterday that each time I received a comment from my readers/foodie friends, my heart sings with joy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Rita,
    Thanks for visiting often. I am same like you, I love learning new things and find out more about them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love those prawns but I don't eat petai. I usually pick them out whenever they're being served. Lol!
    Belachan is just great for cooking.

    Looking fwd to sharing & your comments, not on just on my cooking :) Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you. Your comments mean a lot to me. Thanks!