Prawn Sambal Bostador, a Eurasian Recipe from Singapore and Malaysia
Prawn Sambal Bostador is a delicious, somewhat spicy dish of prawns cooked in a chilli paste. This Eurasian recipe has its roots in Portuguese Malacca (Malaysia), and is very much Malay influenced in the spices used.
Equipment
- a wok or a large frying pan
Ingredients
- 500 g large prawns (shrimps), definitely not tiny ones about 20
- 2 large cloves garlic
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 125 ml coconut milk
- 125 ml water
- 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white sugar
- ½ tsp rice vinegar or any clear vinegar
- freshly ground black pepper
- small handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped cilantro
Grind to a paste
- 1 medium onion
- 3 red Thai bird’s eye chillies the small fiery ones
- 20 dried red chillies
- 1 tsp dried shrimp
- 1 tsp shrimp paste belacan
- 3 candlenuts (or 3 macadamia nuts or 2 cashew nuts)
Instructions
Prep Work
- Soak the Dried Red Chillies. Put half a kettle on.
- Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut the dried chillies up into 2-3 pieces.20 dried red chillies
- Pour the hot water all over and soak until after you're done with the prawns, or for at least 15 minutes.
- While waiting, peel and slice the garlic widthwise. We'll be frying them later.Roughly chop your onion and fresh chillies.2 large cloves garlic, 1 medium onion, 3 red Thai bird’s eye chillies
- When the chillies have had their soaking time, drain and move on to the next step.
- Place all the paste ingredients in a chopper and chop to a fine paste. Set aside.1 medium onion, 3 red Thai bird’s eye chillies, 1 tsp dried shrimp, 1 tsp shrimp paste, 3 candlenuts, 20 dried red chillies
Prep the prawns (while the chillies are soaking)
- Move on to frying the garlic if using shelled prawns.Twist the head off the prawns carefully, leaving the rest of the shell on. Or you can take all the shell off, perhaps leaving just the tail on. It's prettier that way.I prefer to leave the shells on, but that's up to you.500 g large prawns (shrimps), definitely not tiny ones
- The intestinal vein that runs along the back of the prawn should be visible and just sticking out. Give it a firm but gentle pull. Rinse the prawns well.
Let's cook our Prawn Sambal Bostador
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan on medium-low heat and fry the garlic slices for 1 minute until they're just beginning to brown. Drain on a saucer lined with kitchen paper and set aside.4 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Turn the heat up to medium and fry the ground paste and turmeric for 5 minutes, until the pecah minyak stage. That's where you can see a clear seepage of oil, when the paste has lost most of its raw flavour and your kitchen smells like heaven, if a bit spicy.Read about pecah minyak in the article above.½ tsp turmeric powder
- Add the prawns, coating them with the paste, for about 30 seconds.
- Push the prawns to one side and add the the coconut milk, water, salt and sugar. Stir well and bring to a simmer.Leave to cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes until the prawns are done. Th ebigger the prawns, the longer this will take. So 5 - 7 minutes.Check seasoning and add more salt if necessary.125 ml coconut milk, 125 ml water, 1 tsp white sugar, 1 tsp salt
- Stir in the vinegar and a little freshly ground black pepper, and immediately take it off the heat.½ tsp rice vinegar, freshly ground black pepper
- Scatter the fried garlic slices and fresh herbs and serve immediately with Nasi Lemak or just a plate of steamed rice.small handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Nutrition
Calories: 257kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 21gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 806mgPotassium: 382mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 877IUVitamin C: 51mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 2mg
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