Once in a while, a craving for something spicy comes up; I’ve lots of dried anchovies in the fridge/freezer. I guess I can make soup/bouillon with it. But since I wanted something spicy, I’ve decided to make Sambal Ikan Bilis (a.k.a. Anchovies Sambal) Nyonya-style.. Craving slightly satisfied.. 🙂
Ingredients:
- 100g dried anchovies or ikan bilis
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced
- 1 kaffir lime leaf, scrunched
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp sugar, or to taste
- ½ tsp salt, or to taste
Ingredients to be blended into a Paste:
- abt 15 dried chillies, soaked and cut into 2 or 3 pcs each
- abt 10 shallots, peeled and halved
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 stalk lemongrass, only white portion, thinly sliced
- 1 cm fresh turmeric, peeled
- 10g roasted shrimp paste or belacan
Preparation:
- Deep-fry anchovies till golden and fragrant. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in a wok over a medium fire.
- Sautee ground ingredients together with sliced onion and kaffir lime leaf till fragrant, abt 10 mins.
- Add lime juice as well as salt and sugar, to taste.
- Leave to cool slightly before stirring in fried anchovies.
Serve directly with nasi lemak or steamed white rice, sliced cucumber and chicken curry or rendang. 🙂
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