WHITE CHILLI SAMBAL

Yes I'm back ~ It took quite an effort to come back. But here I am again. Again. But honestly.... I have good reasons. Yes I do. 

This was so quick to make, so delicious, so addictive that I had to blog about it. White Chilli sambal is something I learnt to make from my late Mother in law. Yes they are white chilies that she used and I have only seen white chillies in Sabah, East Malaysia. 

White chillies remain white and do not turn red when ripe. Unlike normal bird chillies or othere larger chillies which are green when young and red when ripe. I'm not quite sure why these are white. They were green at first, then they turned white and finally red. H says they are not true white chillies which never ever turn red. They are also not as big as the 'true' white chillies. But cravings make everything possible. So I made some. And they certainly will do. And I found that it really didn't matter if they were white or black. Or red.


This dish is so full of umami you just have to love it. Dried shrimps, belacan and of course the chillies. All sauteed to a fragrant aka smelly pesto. 

H 'banned' me from making this dish years ago because of its fiery spiciness. Bad for the health he says. Anything extreme is bad for the health. This is poison he says! Yes sir. Poison they are. And the more people I don't have to share my poison with so much the better for them. Yes. 

The recipe ~

A handful of white chillies ( you could use green chillies, sliced as well ~ I did once and it was good too)

2 inch square of belacan, dreid shrimp paste

1/4 cup of dried shrimps, soaked to plump and soften it up then drained

6-7 shallots, peeled

2 cloves garlic, peeled

3 T cooking oil

Pound shallots, garlic, belacan and softened dried shrimps until coarsely mushed up. There is no need to pound till fine.

Slice chiiles in half or leave real tiny ones whole.

Heat wok and pour in oil. When hot saute the pounded ingredients until fragrant and the mixture looks cooked through (the onion pieces will be translucent and limp and the whole mixture a slightly darker shade). Throw in the chillies and stir fry until the chillies lok slightly soft and limp. Add salt if necessary. I did not add salt because the belacan and dried shrimps are salty enough.

Serve as an appetizer with steamed white rice and other Malaysian dishes like fried fish, stir fried vegetables, Malay salad or a mild curry. Oh yummm ~