Condiments are one of the important ingredients in most Asian food cooking. In Thailand, people uses fish sauce in their dish preparation. In the culinary world of Malaysia and Singapore, they uses shrimp paste condiment in most of their dishes. In fact both countries shared a similar history in the past (Singapore was part of Malaysia, until Singapore is separated from Malaysia in the 1960s), hence culinary worlds from both countries are pretty much similar. One of the heritage food like Nyonya or Peranakan dishes are curiously a blend of Chinese and Malay cuisines. Nyonya (or Peranakan) people are Chinese who have migrated to Malay Archipelago like Malaysia and Singapore centuries ago, adopting the Malay culture into their day to day life, even in the way they cook their meals.
If you happened to walk around the streets in Malaysia or Singapore, you will probably stumble upon many food restaurants serving dishes that are made from shrimp paste condiment. In local language, the condiment is called belacan. The condiment is made of salty thick shrimp paste that emit undesirable odor that you may found annoying when uncooked and the odor will actually stick to your clothes if you are exposed to it when cooking. It is normally available in the form a small solid rectangular block and can be easily found in any grocery stores. One would have to slice a thin piece from the block to use.
The paste alone would not normally used in cooking dishes, although sometimes the grounded saute paste is being used in the serving of fruit rojak, another popular fruit salad delicacy in Malaysia and Singapore. Shrimp paste would have to be used together with blended chili paste that is made from the combination of pounded chilies, dried shrimps and shallots. Combining these ingredients together will give you a superb spicy taste and aroma that probably could not be found anywhere around the world. Of course the resulted chili shrimp paste would be called sambal belacan in local Malay language. The paste would have to be saute under low heat with little oil for few minutes, and then you will have the paste ready to be used.
Some of the popular dishes that are prepared with shrimp paste, are winged beans dish, mackerel fish filled with spicy chili paste, stinky beans and many more. Another popular fare that is eaten in the morning like nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk, served with fried anchovies and peanuts with cucumber slices) is also typically served with the chili shrimp paste.
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