Sambal Fishball (Fishball in Red Chilli Paste)
Sambal fishball is an easy, spicy side dish made with Chinese fishballs and perfect as part of a South East Asian meal.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 20 dried red chillies (non smoky)
- 250 ml water (boiling)
- 1 large onion
- 2 medium cloves garlic
- 1 tsp shrimp paste ((leave out if unavailable))
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 250 ml water
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 500 g fish balls (raw, not the fried version.)
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about ½ a regular lime)
Instructions
- 1
Put the kettle on. Then, with a pair of scissors, snip the chillies into 2-3 pieces straight into a medium bowl.
- 2
Pour the boiling water over the chillies, cover, and leaves to soak for 15 minutes. Get the other ingredients ready while waiting.
- 3
Peel and halve the onion. Then thinly slice half of the onion and set aside. Cut the other half in two and drop into the chopper.
- 4
Peel the garlic and drop into the chopper. Add the shrimp paste.
- 5
When the chillies are done soaking, drain and rinse them, then tip them into the chopper. Chop everything into a fairly fine paste. Add a little water if you need it, but it shouldn't really be necessary.
- 6
Heat the oil in a medium-sized wok or frying pan, over medium heat. Sauté the sliced onions for 1 minute.
- 7
Then tip in the ground ingredients and fry this chilli paste for 2 minutes.
- 8
Pour the water into your chopper (to "rinse" it), then pour the whole lot into the wok. Add the salt and sugar and stir to mix. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, until the sambal is reduced and has thickened.
- 9
Tip in the fish balls, bring the heat back up to medium and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes until the fishballs are done.
- 10
Check seasoning, and add more salt if it needs it. Take it off the heat.
- 11
Stir in the lime juice, leave to rest for 2 minutes, then serve.Will keep overnight, covered, in the fridge. See notes below about making ahead.