Belachan

Almost every dish in this book requires a pat of this slightly moist and brown paste. It is made from dried, salted, then fermented tiny shrimps which are ground further into a smooth paste and later dried in the sun. An old lady used to deliver to our home round slabs of pungent home-made belachan (pronounced blah-chan) wrapped in cloth. These round discs are still available in shops in Malacca but belachan is more commonly available in rectangular blocks wrapped in plastic and paper.

As belachan is salty and fishy, adding too much of it in any one recipe would overpower the overall taste of the dish.