Amah's Recipes

A few months ago I posted about my first experience cooking with Amah(My Chinese step-grandmother) and I promised to post her recipes but never got around to it so today I'll post one for the Prawn Sambal. This is a fragrant cooked chili paste with prawns. I had to write down everything as my Amah was cooking and so it is a little hard to be specific with cooking times etc. If you have any questions or if I left anything out just contact me and I'd be happy to help in any way possible!

Photo from left to right: Sambal Udang Petai(Prawn Chili Paste w/ Petai), Spicy Spinach, and Egg Curry

Sambal Udang Petai

- 1kg Prawns (cleaned, shelled and deveined)
- 10 Garlic Cloves roughly chopped
- 15 Shallots roughly chopped
- 2 handfuls of Dried Chili
- 1 handful of Shredded Coconut to make santan
- 1/2 cup of Oil
- thumb of Tamarind paste
- thumb of Belacan
- handful of Petai

- Boil the dried chili in water for 10 minutes. Rinse it with cold water and get rid of the seeds. This will ensure that the sambal is not too spicy. Blend the chili in a blender to make it into a paste. Keep aside.
-Add the thumbful of Tamarind paste in a little bowl with 1 cup of water to soak. Keep aside.
-In the blender add the shredded coconut with 2 cups of water. Blend then strain the liquid. Keep the liquid aside this is known as santan.
-In a large wok heat the oil. Saute the shallots, garlic and belacan till fragrant and brown. Add the blended chili paste and keep stirring. Wait till the oil rises and add a splash of the tamarind water. Stir then add a splash of santan. Let it simmer for a while and stir occasionally. Add the rest of the tamarind water and another splash of santan. Keep stirring and let the sauce thicken. Once the sauce is thick you can add the prawns just for a few minutes till they are cooked through. Take out the prawns once they are cooked so you don't overcook them. You can now choose to add the petai and cook for another 10minutes adding more santan to taste. Once the sambal is done you can add the prawns in again.