Sambal Petai Udang Anchovies

Sambal petai udang ikan bilis (anchovies)

An acquired taste, Petai, an underrated dish that many don't like because it's pungent and bitter taste. However, the benefits of petai outweigh its notoriety. If done well, petai is hardly bitter  and infact quite addictive. 

After much research and pouring through many recipes on the internet. I've learnt how to make a good Sambal Petai Udang with Anchovies. Sounds complicated? Well, it's not when there's shortcuts like ready made chili paste to shorten the time. Plus, if I'm not good at making the chili paste, I might as well leave that to the experts. 

The key to delicious petai is to keep stir frying petai until the petai is soft. This will remove the astringent taste that most hate. Also, the chili paste will camoflage the petai very well.

Ingredient:

• 1 pack of fresh Petai
• 300g baby shrimp or big shelled prawns
• Half a large yellow onion - sliced
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 teaspoon of fish sauce

Procedure:

• In a heated pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add dry petai to fry. 
• Keep stirring the petai for about 10 minutes or until the petai is soft. This reduces the bitterness.
• Push the petai to the side, add onions to fry until wilt and the mince garlic and continue frying. 
• Add prawns or shrimp and stir in all the ingredients in the pan.
• When shrimp is near cooked, add in the Sambal ikan bilis (anchovies) from recipe below and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce for added umami. 
• Toss until all ingredients are coated with Sambal and turn off the flame. 

 Sambal belachan ikan bilis (anchovies)

Ingredients:

• 300g Anchovies
• 1 tablespoon heap of Sambal belacan
• Enough oil to deep fry Anchovies
• Half teaspoon salt

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a sauce pan, enough to deep fry anchovies. Add dry anchovies into the hot water. 
• Note: any trace of water in anchovies will cause oil to splatter and cause injury. 
• Fry the anchovies until golden brown, remove from saucepan and allow it to drip dry on a wiremesh. 
• Remove oil in the sauce pan until there's 2 tablespoon left, you will want to use this oil as it's already fragrant from frying anchovies. 
• Heat up the saucepan with oil in it, when the oil is heating up, add 1 tablespoon heap of Sambal belacan into the pan to fry until fragrant,
• Add in the anchovies and give it a good toss and turn off the flame. While it's still hot, add a pinch of salt and toss it again. Feel free to add sugar if you like it a little sweet. 

Ingredient source:

• Petai - any supermarket 
• Sambal belachan - Shan's addiction this is extra spicy
• Megachef Fish sauce - Redmart

Alternatives:

Normal Sambal belachan can be used or nasi lemak chili.

Nutritional value:

Petai is high in fibre, and contains considerable amounts of vitamin C and E, as well as the vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3.

Ikan Bilis is high in calcium