Sambal Udang (Prawn Sambal)
Sambal Udang (Prawn Sambal), also known as Udang Belado in Indonesia, is a popular dish in Southeast Asia for its savoury, spicy taste. It is made with succulent prawns stir-fried in a rich and fragrant homemade chilli paste.
Having a mother who spent her years working alongside my late-grandmother running a nasi padang stall, I am constantly learning new and treasured recipes that I will always share with all of you. One thing that I appreciate is how easy it is to prepare and cook this delicious Sambal Udang recipe – saves you so much time without sacrificing taste!
Why This Sambal Udang is a Game-Changer:
- Quick and easy: Go from prep to plate in 30 minutes.
- Simple ingredients: Focuses on pantry staples and fresh prawns for a high-protein meal.
- Kid-friendly tweaks: I’ll show you how to balance the spice so the little ones can enjoy the “sauce” over rice without the tears.
- One-pan wonder: Minimal cleanup means you might actually get a moment to sit down after dinner.
What kind of shrimp or prawn is best for sambal udang?
There isn’t a specific type of prawn that is preferred for this sambal udang dish. For me, I am completely fine using frozen prawn (without skin) so it is easier to feast on it later on.
If you are looking for more dishes to pair with this delicious Sambal Udang, we’d recommend these recipes:
Sambal Udang ingredients:
- 1.5kg prawns (frozen or fresh)
- 6 tbsp cooking oil (I used olive oil for this recipe!)
- 5 tsp salt
- 300g homemade chilli paste
- 250g onion (minced or diced)
- 42g brown sugar
- 60ml water
How to make sambal udang
1. Preparing the prawns
The secret to the perfect sambal dish is the main ingredient. My mum shared a little secret to how you can cook the prawns to get that succulent, juicy and bubbly texture! (You can literally feel that “pop!” effect when you bite into it!)
First, you partially cook the prawns in the pan for a good 15 minutes or until the prawns turn orange/yellow. Once they are half-cooked, remove from the pan and set them aside.
2. cooking the prawn sambal
Heat up oil in a medium size pan. Once it is hot, you can add the onions and saute them until they are a little brown. After that, add the chilli paste and mix them well. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for about 10 minutes on high heat, as we want to ensure that the chilli turns to a slightly darker shade of red. This means that the chilli won’t taste too sharp or spicy later on. After that, add salt and brown sugar into the sambal and mix them together.
Once this is done, you can add the half-cooked prawns into the sambal and stir them well. For garnish, this is optional but you can add either coriander leaves or parsley leaves – whichever is preferred. See, it is as simple as that and you have made your own homemade prawn sambal!
Sambal Udang (Prawn Sambal)
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg prawns (frozen or fresh)
- 6 tbsp cooking oil I used olive oil
- 5 tsp salt
- 42 g brown sugar
- 250 g chilli paste homemade
- 250 g onions minced/diced
- 60 ml water
Instructions
Preparing the prawns
- Cook the prawn in a pan with no oil until they turn orange/yellow. Once half-cooked, set it aside.
Cooking the sambal
- Heat up the oil in a medium size pan on medium heat.
- Add the onions and saute until it is a little brown. Next, add the chilli paste and mix them well. Let the chilli paste cook for 10 minutes with the lid on.
- Add salt and brown sugar to the sambal and mix together. Let it cook for another 10 minutes to ensure that the chilli darkens.
- Add water to the sambal and stir it well. Proceed to add the prawns to the sambal and stir them well. Make sure the prawns are well coated with sambal.
- (Optional) For garnish, you can top it off with parsley leaves or coriander leaves.
