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Sep 6th

Kangkong Belacan

Posted by with 13 Comments
[dropcap type="2"]B[/dropcap]runei was home to me for about a decade and a half. And if there is anything I miss a lot — it’s the food.

During a recent visit to Manila, my good friend Anyati Orcullo (or Mama Ann as we fondly call her), one of the most successful Pinays in Brunei, brought home an interesting pasalubong I never expected — a block of belacan, a Malay variety of shrimp paste, made from fermented ground shrimp, sun dried and then cut into fist-sized rectangular blocks. [pullquote type="1" align="left"] a block of belacan, a Malay variety of shrimp paste, made from fermented ground shrimp, sun dried and then cut into fist-sized rectangular blocks.[/pullquote]

The belacan (pronounced as bala-chan or blachan) is also one of the main ingredients of my favourite Malay dish — Kangkong Belacan, which I have been craving for the longest time since leaving Brunei three years ago. Kangkong Belacan is a spicy dish of stir-fried kangkong (water convolvulus or water spinach) with belacan or shrimp paste.

While preparing this dish to pair with Daing na Bangus and Lechon Kawali for one of our weekly lunch meetings in the orphanage, it suddenly occurred to me that even though this is one easy dish to prepare, I never really cooked it at all while I was still in Brunei!

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KANGKONG BELACAN

 
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Recipe type: Main
Author: MikeMina
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 10 mins
Serves: 2
Kangkong Belacan is a typical Malay vegetable dish of stir-fried water spinach with shrimp paste.

 

Ingredients
  • 500 grams kangkong (water convolvulus or water spinach)
  • 50 grams belacan
  • 5 bulbs shallots, chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
  • 1 tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 red chilies, chopped
  • 4 tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a wok over high heat and saute garlic, shallots, chilies, and tomatoes.
  2. Add belacan and cook until dissolved and blended well.
  3. Add kangkong and stir briskly for about 2 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat immediately and serve with steamed rice.
Notes

The above recipe is for the ‘dry’ version shown in the photo above. Should you prefer an output with a bit of sauce (second photo below), immediately add a ladle of water after adding the belacan. This would also help dissolve the belacan faster.

 

Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe

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[image type="frame-css3" align="center" width="470" caption="Stir-fried Kangkong with Belacan Sauce"]
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Related Posts:

  1. Unique Brunei: AMBUYAT
  2. SPICY TALONG
  3. DO IT MALAY ONE MORE TIME!
  4. CHICKEN SATAY

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  • Kiko Garcia

    Mike,

    This is really good! So simple and a quick… Once in a while I get to order this in a Malaysian restaurant by the Phladelphia China town. Good and healthy recipe!

    Kiko
    Philadelphia, USA

  • Kiko Garcia

    Mike,

    This is really good! So simple and a quick… Once in a while I get to order this in a Malaysian restaurant by the Phladelphia China town. Good and healthy recipe!

    Kiko
    Philadelphia, USA

  • http://lafang.mikemina.com/ Mike

    Kiko, thanks for dropping by . . . now I’ve got your email addy . . . I’ll add you na in the e-group :-)

  • http://lafang.mikemina.com Mike

    Kiko, thanks for dropping by . . . now I’ve got your email addy . . . I’ll add you na in the e-group :-)

  • http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/ joey

    This sounds delicious! Since I love kangkong with bagoong I’m sure I would love this too :)

  • http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com joey

    This sounds delicious! Since I love kangkong with bagoong I’m sure I would love this too :)

  • http://kusinanimanang.blogspot.com/ Manang

    Napaglaway mo naman ako, Mang Mike!

  • http://kusinanimanang.blogspot.com Manang

    Napaglaway mo naman ako, Mang Mike!

  • http://www.mikemina.com/ Mike

    @ Joey – I’ve no doubt you’ll love this one! Thanks for dropping by . . . ;-)

    @ Manang – You should try this some time . . . May belacan ba dyan sa inyo? :-)

  • http://www.mikemina.com Mike

    @ Joey – I’ve no doubt you’ll love this one! Thanks for dropping by . . . ;-)

    @ Manang – You should try this some time . . . May belacan ba dyan sa inyo? :-)

  • http://www.wanderlustsha.com/ sha

    When I went to Indonesia, some Indonesian ladies here in Athens asked me to bring some belacan for them
    I bought a lot much shock to our Indonesian driver

  • http://www.wanderlustsha.com sha

    When I went to Indonesia, some Indonesian ladies here in Athens asked me to bring some belacan for them
    I bought a lot much shock to our Indonesian driver

  • rose

    apa kabar? wow, i miss this too. i dont know if we had the privilege of meeting but i too worked in brunei @ jpmc. hope all is well with you. i miss brunei too – the food, the people, the market, my friends. thanks for sharing this recipe. i love chicken rice and the mongo sprouts – i used to eat at that nice chinese diner infront of a store at gadong./ centerpoint. is it singa chicken.

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