hae bi – 好心人

Sambal Belacan Okra with Tomatoes

July 31, 2015 by Ho Lang

Sambal Belacan Okra with Tomatoes

Here is another dish that goes very well with Sambal Belacan sauce. Okra aka Lady’s Fingers – don’t ask me why they are called that when they don’t look remotely like any lady’s finger – blends very well in the sambal belacan sauce.

I can only say try it if you haven’t already stir fry it. I cooked it with large beef tomatoes and powdered hae bi aka dried shrimp. The dried shrimps were grounded to almost like a fine powder using a food processor or you can work out some arm muscles with the traditional pestle and mortar.

Whichever method you choose the 32nd result will be a fine powdered form of Dried shrimp. You should have a 2 tbsp worth. The fragrance of the dried shrimp plus the sambal belacan simply enhances the flavour of this seemingly simple dish.

Recipe

Ingredients

15 pieces of Okra (the way to select the good ones is to flick the end of the okra to see if it is too hard or too soft. If it flicks back, then likely that it is good.)
30 grams of hae bi aka Dried Shrimp
1 large tbsp of Sambal Belacan
2 large Beef Tomatoes (quartered)
3 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
Olive Oil

Method

1. Heat oil till it is smoking. Fry the crushed garlic (not minced) and fry till fragrant. Then add in the dried ground hae bi aka dried shrimp. Fry until fragrant. This one really smells good.

2. Then add the tomatoes in to fry. Stir Fry until the tomatoes start to soften and break down. Then add the okra (which you would have already sliced diagonally) and continue to fry.

3. Now add the sambal belacan and continue to stir fry. Don’t be tempted to add in additional water. The liquid from the tomatoes should be sufficient and you generally want to allow the ingredients to cook in their juices.

4. Continue to fry until the gooey-ness of the okra starts to manifest. Make sure the vegetable is coated nicely with the chilli paste. Serve with steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

Stir Fry Belacan Wing Beans

April 5, 2015 by Ho Lang

Stir Fry Belacan Wing Beans

My wife bought this odd looking vegetable the other day and told me to work the magic. Of course everyone knows there is no such thing as magic, at least not in my kitchen that is.

Nevertheless, I took a long hard look at this vegetable otherwise known as “Wing Beans” or as they call it in Malay, “Kacang Botol“. It is a weird looking vegetable indeed with its “C-shaped” body if you were to slice it through. I remember having it once at some coffeeshop zi char stall and it was presented to us in an intense sambal belacan sauce. I thought that it was delicious.

So what better way to cook this dish than to do it in sambal belacan. My twist is to add a few glass prawns (my favourite prawns) and it would be perfect.

Recipe

Ingredients

6 medium sized Glass Prawns
300 grams of Wing Beans
Handful of Dried Shrimps (hae bi)
1 piece of Red Chilli (chopped finely)
3-4 grams of Belacan
Light Soya Sauce
Olive Oil

Method

1. Wash and slice the wing beans into 1 cm length pieces. Mix the belacan, dried shrimps and finely chopped chilli into a blender and blend the ingredients into a paste. At this point, it would be good to ventilate the kitchen.

2. Wash and prepare the glass prawns, heat oil in the wok and then fry the prawns until they curl into a “C-shaped” position. This means the are cooked. Reserve the prawns aside.

3. Now heat another batch of oil in the wok, throw the belacan paste into the wok and stir fry until fragrant. Then add a little more oil and throw the prepared wing beans into the wok and give it a good stir. Continue frying until the colour of the vegetable turns a dark green. Then add the prawns and continue stirring. Continue frying for another five minutes and it is ready to be served.

Bon Appetit!

Wing Bean aka Kacang Botol

Belacan, finely chopped chilli, dried shrimps