Belacan Fried Rice is a very simple fried rice recipe. It is the dried shrimp paste or belacan that gives this version of fried rice its unique Southeast Asian flavor. It is best to use day-old rice when preparing this dish because you want the rice to be dry and slightly hard. The long beans can be substituted with celery or french bean – in fact, any crunchy, non-leafy vegetable will do just as well.
Malaysian Belacan Fried Rice with Dried Shrimps
Ingredients:
4 cups day-old rice
½ cup diced long beans
½ cup dried shrimps
2 Tbsp dried shrimp paste or belacan
4 Tbsp cooking oil
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Soak the dried shrimps in water for about 20 minutes. Drain and leave till ready to cook.
Stir-fry the long beans in a Tbsp of hot oil till they are about ¾ cooked. Keep aside in a bowl or plate.
Fry the dried shrimps and the belacan in 3 Tbsp of hot oil. As belacan tends to clump together, mash it well with your ladle. When the dried shrimps turn crispy and slightly brown and the belacan smells fragrant, add the rice and partially cooked bean
Mix well and add salt to taste. Continue frying for another two to three minutes, mixing all the ingredients thoroughly.
Heat oil and fry ground ingredients (A) till aromatic. Add mushrooms and carrot. Sauté well. Add rice and toss briskly followed by seasoning (B). Continue to stir-fry until rice is quite dry. Next, push the rice to one side of the pan and drizzle in a little extra oil. Add the beaten eggs and fry until set. Push rice over to cover the eggs for about 40 to 50 seconds before tossing the rice briefly.
They might look like just another batch of ordinary fried chicken but in fact they are anything but ordinary.
This is a relatively new dish that is rather similar to the popular har jeong kei (蝦醬雞, shrimp paste chicken) from Hong Kong/Southern China, and I won't be surprised if the creator was simply trying to recreate har jeong kei using locally produced belacan (shrimp paste) instead. What do you think?
Despite being quite pungent in it's raw stage; both the taste and smell of belacan are a lot mellower and "sweeter" after a light grilling. I have served this dish to friends who would never go near a block of belacan but can't have enough of these delicious fried chicken marinated with something that repelled them in the first place.
P.S I will do a post on har jeong kei soon so stay tuned!
serves 2 to 4 as part of a Malaysian meal you'll need;
1/2 kg of chicken wings
2 x 3 mm slice of belacan (shrimp paste), lightly grilled and pounded*
2 garlic cloves, grated
a small knob of ginger, grated
3 tbs of premium oyster sauce
dash of sesame oil
1 tsp of sugar
dash of white pepper
4 tbs of corn flour
oil for frying
* Instant belacan powder can be used instead.
Grill belacan (shrimp paste) for a few minutes on each side on low flame, allow to cool then pound to a fine powder.
Marinate chicken for 1 to 2 hours.
Fry chicken in batches until golden and crispy.
Crispy on the outside but tender and juicy inside - serve as part of a Malaysian meal or as a perfect snack with a few cold beers.
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