Peel and quarter the onion, peel the garlic and roughly chop the chillies (in 2-3 pieces).
Place all the paste ingredients into a chopper and chop to a fairly fine paste.You could use a pestle and mortar, if you like. If you are, soak your dried prawns in very hot water for 10 minutes. Then drain and pound.
Let's make some Kangkung Belacan
Rinse and chop the kangkung into roughly equal lengths, measuring about 5cm/2 inches. Separate the harder stalks from the leaves, as the stalks will need cooking slightly longer.
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the ground ingredients until fragrant, for about a minute.
Add the kangkung stalks, stir, then add the water. Mix again and leave to cook for 2 minutes.
Now add the kangkung leaves, give it a quick stir just to let the leaves wilt. You don't want to cook it for more than 30-60 seconds. Take it off the heat.Like spinach, kangkung cooks quickly and is best eaten with a slight crunch as is true for all vegetables!
Check seasoning and stir in the salt if you want it saltier (the shrimp paste and dried prawns are salty ingredients). Serve immediately.