Condiment
Belacan
S tier
Belacan is Malay-Singapore shrimp paste: blocks of fermented krill/shrimp, toasted before use until it smells of the wok not of the drain. It is the soul of sambal belacan. Toast a slice, pound with chilli and lime. Terasi and kapi are cousins with different salt and toast habits. Raw belacan in a salad is a mistake.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Sambal BelacanToasted
Traits
BlockCousins ExistKrillMalay BlockNot Raw In SaladSambalToast FirstWok Smell After Toast
History
MY
Malay kitchens fermented shrimp into belacan as a keeping umami block.
MY
Belacan blocks were a wet-market staple across the peninsula.
Sambal belacan made the toasted block famous in diaspora cooking.