SAMBAL NANAS

Side dishes are known as sambals in Indonesia and Malaysia. They can be either paste-like mixtures used as flavourings, or finely chopped or sliced cold vegetables or fruits. Here sweet pineapple and cucumber is dressed with a savoury sauce.

Serves :

Preparation Method :

Cut off both ends of the pineapple. Stand it upright on a board, and then slice off the skin from top to bottom, cutting out the spines.
Slice the pineapple, removing the central core. Cut into thin slices and set aside.
Trim the ends from the cucumber and slice thinly. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
Place the dried shrimps in a food processor and chop finely.
Add the chilli, prepared shrimp paste, and lemon or limejuice, and process again to a paste.
Rinse the cucumber, drain, and dry on kitchen paper. Mix with the pineapple and chill.
Just before serving, spoon in the spice mixture with sugar to taste. Mix well and serve.

Cook's Tip

The pungent shrimp paste, also called blachan, is popular in many Southeast Asian countries, and is available in Asian supermarkets. Because it can taste a bit raw in a sambal, dry-fry it before use by wrapping in foil and heating in a frying pan over low heat for 5 minutes, turning from time to time. If the shrimp paste is to be fried with other spices, this preliminary cooking can be left out.