Belacan is a type of fermented shrimp paste made of shrimp meat. For a while I thought this is one food ingredient unique to the locals in Malaysia. Until recently a friend told me Belacan is widely used as good ingredient in many other Asia countries like Hong Kong, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laotian, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Generally it came in various shapes and packaging. The commonly found is Belacan block or small pieces of 20 gram pack.
If you’re interested to find out more about this shrimp paste go to Belacan explained at Wikipedia. I’m rather surprise by this article.
Most of the time when we talk about Belacan, we’re referring to the dried Belacan. Another version of shrimp paste available in water and packed in bottle known as Cincalok. It tastes a little bit of sour and salty, over all its a different taste altogether from the dried version.
In this article, I’m going to show you my secret recipe to prepare and use Belacan in cooking. Beware though, Belacan has strong smell and very salty, so use it sparingly.
First method
Cut a small piece of Belacan you intend to use. Thread the piece of belacan onto a skewer. You can use wooden skewer, barbeque skewer or even use a fork to do it. Heat it over your kitchen stove. Turn it often to avoid burn. Ground into powder and you’re ready to cook with it or you can store it for later use, this method give a strong smell.
Now you have belacan in the form of powder, you can mix it directly into your cooking. Belacan is pungent, use it sparingly.
Second method.
Cut a small piece of Belacan as need. Soak it in small amount of water in a small bowl. It is ready to sift out rough particles when its fully dissolved in water. Place a fine mesh sieve on top of a bowl to sift. Discard off all rough particles and now you’ll have a bowl of liquid Belacan.
Heat up your wok in low heat. Pour in the bowl of Belacan and stir until all water dry up. Add in 2 teaspoon of cooling oil to fry the Belacan.
You can scoop up the Belacan mixture to be use later or begin your cooking with it.
I like to use the second method because it allows me to drained off shrimp shells, fine sand, dirt and dust that got mixed up in the Belacan.
How to choose Belacan.
Lots of people said Belacan that looks lighter in color are fresher but when I spoke to a Belacan seller, she explained that Belacan that expose to sunlight changed to lighter color and often became drier. Thus choosing a lighter or darker color doesn’t indicate its freshness.
If you want fresh Belacan just ask for it from the store keeper they will be better to show which is fresher than the other.
In my personal opinion, freshness is not a matter. Choose one that have strong smell. And if you’ve not been to a Belacan store, they all might smell the same. Choose a piece of belacan with a mild smell if you’re not really a Belacan lover.
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