Chinese sambal belacan

Ingredients
Red chillies
Dried shrimps
Red onions
Belacan
Salt

Method
1. Grind red chillies, dried shrimps and red onions separately. Filter if watery.

2. Heat oil and fry belacan until fragrant.

3. Add in ground dried shrimp and fry until fragrant.

4. Add in ground red onions, followed by ground red chillies, and fry until fragrant. The dish should not be watery.

5. Add some salt to flavour.

6. Remove and serve.

- Recipe courtesy of reader Sook Yee

Steamed Belacan Spareribs

400-450g spareribs, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped garlic

Marinade
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp belacan stock granules
1 tsp chicken stock granules
1 tsp Shao Hsing wine
1 tbsp cornflour
2-3 tbsp water

Combine marinade ingredients with chopped ginger, garlic and chillies. Mix well then add spareribs. Stir to mix and set aside for 1 hour.

Arrange the marinated sparerib pieces on a heatproof dish. Steam over rapidly boiling water for an hour or until meat is tender. Serve immediately.