From clockwise – onion, dried chillies, tamarind pulp, lemongrass, dried shirmps, tumeric and kaffir lime leaves
I already have a recipe for sambal hairbee in my other food blog. So, I shall not repeat the recipe again because I used almost the same things today. The ingredients are as above except for the belacan powder, sugar and some fish sauce.
I bought 300 grams (8 taels) of local dried shrimps which costs RM12. This is the reason why you hardly can find any economy rice stalls selling sambal hairbee as a dish. Dried shrimps are expensive.
What I did was to blend all the herbs etc with the tamarind juice (made with the pulp mixed with some water). I use a grinder to grind 70% of the dried shrimps till fine. You may use a mortar to pound them too. I intentionally left 30% of the shrimps intact because it is nice to chew on the shrimps. Remember to soak the dried shrimps till they aren’t no longer salty.
The brownish blob in the cupcake paper is the tamarind. Use a generous amount of tamarind so that the sourness balances well with the dried shrimps. With the right combination of sugar, this dish is the most versatile thing. You can eat it with white rice, as sandwich fillings and with the addition of some water and vegetables like okra, four angle beans, petai and etc, it will be another dish on its own. Sprinkle some on your instant noodle and it tastes really good too. 😛
The recipe yields a very huge portion but this can be kept in the freezer. I have separated my portion into four containers and these can be stored for a few weeks. I just need to heat it thoroughly in the microwave oven.
Something from my ex-MIL, for asam jawa; remove the seeds and throw the whole thing in without diluting. Its less water to dry out (unless you want a bit of sambal gravy). But the magic is in eating and suddenly biting into the flesh of the sour tamarind. For asam lovers…
If made with least tamarind, great when added into chicken flavoured instant noodles soup – kinda like prawn mee!
eh aunty, why u never pound the dried prawns? if you pound it its nicer la …
and yeah those in the post posh chinese restaurants they serve this kind of condiments, but with more oild and its crispier wan …
Sambal hairbee: I love sambal hairbee too. I like to pound mine. I squeeze some small lime(kik lah) after frying. Thanks 4 sharing all the wonderful recipe. Just discover yr blog and have been blogging ever since..
i loved this with bread, else i tend to curi a couple of spoonfuls when no one is looking esp my mom :p well when i was younger
I love this with almost everything and anything. BUT I usually fry the ground sambal harbee FIRST before adding them to the paste when I’m cooking the paste. I find the texture to be better. ^.^