Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal (Hae Bee Hiam)

Remember the Dried Shrimp Cookies that I baked during the Lunar New Year?  I was supposed to upload the Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal (Hae Bee Hiam) but I never gotten a chance to do it and here is another batch.

I love Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal.  It goes well with so many things.  Through Dreamer's Loft's trial, she came up with this recipe and was kind enough to share.

I have paired this with porridge, fried rice, eggs etc.... this especially good when your taste bud just needed some fire up especially after illness.  

Now I am thinking of dried shrimp rolls.  Will I have the energy, we shall see?

What you need:
yield about 615g

300g Dried shrimp, rinsed and drained

Tamarind water

50g Tamarind pulp

80ml Water

Rempah spice paste

¾ tsp Belachan, slightly toasted

30 cloves Garlic

15 Shallots

15 Small red chilli (discard seeds if prefer less spicy)

3 stalks Lemongrass, inner tender sections, last 8cm

3 Candlenut

¾ tbsp Ground tumeric

3 Kaffir lime leaves, cut into tiny pieces

160ml Cooking oil

80 Gula Melaka, shaved

Method:

Grind the dried shrimp using a food processor or electric chopper till partly chunky and partly flossy. Then pan-fry (without oil) for a few mins until aromatic. Set aside.

Add water to the tamarind pulp, rub the pulp to extract more flavour. Then strain to get tamarind water (squeeze pulp to get as much juice as possible). Set aside.

Using food processor or electric chopper, grind the garlic, shallots, chilli, lemongrass, candlenut and belachan until they turn into a paste.

Add ground tumeric and kaffir lime leaves, mix till well-blended.

Add cooking oil in a large wok over medium low heat. Once oil is heated, add the rempah paste, fry and stir constantly, until rempah changes colour, from orange to reddish and aroma from raw to fragrant.

Add the tamarind water, mix well. Then add the dried shrimp and gula melaka. Stir and cook till gula melaka is melted. The hae bee hiam remains quite moist.

Cool the hae bee hiam completely before storing in containers, for up to 3 weeks in fridge or up to 2 months in freezer.

Cheers!