Nyonya Sambal

Nyonya Sambal

(Sambal Belacan)

Malaysia

This fiery, uncooked sambal has a clean quality that offsets the rich sweetness of Nyonya foods beautifully; increase the amount of dried shrimp paste if you want it to have a saltier, deeper-tasting sambal. It’s traditionally served in small individual dipping bowls, each garnished with a few halved kasturi limes, squeezed into the sambal at the start of the meal so the tartness of the lime juice remains assertive. Rather than individual dipping bowls, you might prefer placing a small communal bowl of this sambal in the center of the table. Leftovers can be freshened up with a squeeze of lime juice and will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days (though be sure to let this sambal reach room temperature before serving—its flavors will be much more pronounced) .

Makes about 1/2 cup

• 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon dried shrimp paste, depending on how pronounced you want the taste of dried shrimp paste to be (trassi or belacan)
• 5 to 7 fresh red Holland chiles or other fresh long, red chiles, such as Fresno or cayenne, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 12 to 15 small fresh green Thai chiles, stemmed
• 1 shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 3 kasturi limes, seeded and halved, OR 1 medium Persian lime (no more than 2-1/2-inches long), seeded and quartered

1. Place the shrimp paste in the center of a 5-inch-square piece of aluminum foil. Fold the edges of the foil over to form a small parcel, and press down with the heel of your hand to flatten the shrimp paste into a 1/4-inch-thick disc. Heat a gas burner to medium-low or an electric burner to medium-high and with a pair of tongs or forks place the sealed parcel directly on the heat source. Toast until the paste begins to smoke and release a burning, shrimpy smell, about 1-1/2 minutes. With the tongs or forks, turn the parcel over and toast the other side for another 1-1/2 minutes, then turn off the burner. Remove the parcel with the tongs or forks and allow it to cool for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Carefully unwrap the foil; the edges of the disc should be black-brown and toasty, while the center should be golden with some black-brown patches. Scrape the toasted shrimp paste from the foil with a spoon into a small bowl and allow it to cool for another 30 seconds. Discard the foil.

2. Place the toasted shrimp paste, red and green chiles, shallot, and garlic in a small food processor. Pulse until you have a coarse paste resembling cooked oatmeal. The garlic and shallot should be well ground, but a few small pieces of chile no longer than 1/8 inch are fine. (You don’t have to add salt to this sambal—the dried shrimp paste will provide enough.)

3. Transfer to a small serving bowl for guests to spoon from directly or place in small individual dipping bowls. Just before eating, squeeze the lime into the sambal and stir well to combine.