Belacan BeeHoon - the secret family recipe with a twist of our style

It's either you pick this up today or... that's it... :P

This is for SURE ... i repeat for SURE NOT a healthy food ... that's why we sort of agree mutually at home that we are making it just once every quarter ... and sort of twist the original recipe a little to something a little more less "damaging"... hahaha... not so serious... but again... eat it sparingly. 

for me, today I'm writing this is this blog to document this family recipe which should continue from our mom to us.

So.... lets get started.  Remember, I learn this from my mom in law, and usually our mothers' recipes are measured by feeling... sort of main agak-agak.  i introduce in some measurement here, but normally i also agak-agak.  You probably need to adjust it a bit to suit your taste.  Let me warn you first, the smell of belacan is strong.  So shut the door and turn on the kitchen hood before you cook.  :P

you need:

6 shallots
6 cloves of garlic
2 table spoon of dried chili paste
half cup dried shrimp (soak to soften and pound)
50g belacan
50g asam paya (tamarind paste)
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
4 tablespoon of sugar
1.5 liter water
Blenched bihoon
Blenched bean sprout
thinly sliced cucumber
Oil for cooking

1.  Blend shallots, garlic and chilli in a blender.  In a large pot, fry the paste for 3 to 5 minutes under medium heat.  Add in the pounded dried shrimp and let it fried for another a minute or so.
2.  The belacan and asam paya will be dissolved in 1.5liter of water before hand.  Pour the belacan and asam solution (don't pour in the asam seeds) into the pot.  Now we are half way done with gravy.  Let the gravy simmer for 10minutes under low heat.
3.  Add in soya sauce to the gravy to give it some brownish colour.  Season the gravy with sugar.  At this point of time, you sound taste it and adjust the taste according to your liking.  There is no salt required because the belacan and asam is already salty.... so don add any salt.  Once you get the right taste, the gravy is done... so easy neh.
3.  Serve it with bihoon, taugeh and cucumber.  See the picture.  you will get it.

My mom in law usually will increase the acidity by adding some rice vinegar.  I'm avoiding that because vinegar can be a bit harsh to the tummy.  I usually will add more asam in the asam/belacan solution.  But if need to, i will put may be half a tea spoon of apple cider vinegar.

Little secret which may be not too many of us in the family know is... it is best to cook this the night before because the sweetness of the dried shrimp will infused into the gravy.

:P

My wife is the number 1 fan for this... i hope everyone reading this will like it  :P