A thick, black, sweet-and-salty, deeply marine condiment typical of Malay and Peranakan cuisine, usually served with fruit rojak or crisp vegetables.
Ingredients
- 250 g Malaysian hae ko black shrimp paste
- 90 g palm sugar, in a block or coins
- 120 ml filtered water
- 25 g unsweetened tamarind concentrate
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 20 g toasted sesame seeds
Method
- Put the black shrimp paste in a small heavy-based saucepan. Gradually add the filtered water while whisking to loosen the paste: it should become smooth, dark, and homogeneous, without large lumps.
- Add the palm sugar and set over low heat. Stir with a flexible spatula until the sugar has completely melted; the sauce should become glossy and begin forming small, slow bubbles around the edges, never boiling vigorously.
- Stir in the tamarind concentrate and pinch of salt. Continue cooking gently, scraping the bottom well; the sauce is ready when it coats the spatula in a thick layer and falls back in a slow ribbon.
- Taste carefully: the first impression should be sweet and caramelized, followed by a clean salty, marine flavor, then a brief acidity. If it tastes too aggressive, continue cooking gently to round it out; if it becomes too thick, loosen it with a splash of hot water.
- Remove from the heat and let cool until lukewarm. The texture will thicken further as it cools; it should remain pourable, sticky, and dense enough to cling to pieces of cucumber, pineapple, jicama, or fried fritters.
- Pour into a clean jar. Serve at room temperature, drizzled over traditional rojak or as a condiment on the side, then sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds just before eating.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 202.7 kcal
- Protein
- 15.99 g
- Carbohydrate
- 29.16 g
- Fat
- 2.69 g
- Fibre
- 0.6 g
- Calcium
- 48.1 mg
- Iron
- 0.73 mg
- Magnesium
- 16.2 mg
