Sambal Sotong is a dish cooked with fresh squid (I used octopus) in a classic Malay sauce; a hearty spicy sauce made with chillies, onions, garlic, tomatoes, tamarind paste and dried shrimp paste also known as Belacan. Sambal Sotong is also a popular accompaniment to Singaporean local dish – Nasi Lemak.
Ingredients
- 800 g Squid/ Octopus (cleaned and cut)
- 2 Tomatoes (chopped)
- 4 cloves of Garlic
- 1 Onion (sliced)
- 2 Red bird’s eye chilli
- 1 1/2 tsp Palm sugar or Dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Tamarind pulp
- 4 tbsp Chilli paste
- 2 tsp Shrimp paste
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 cup Water
- Vegetable oil
Method
- Soften tamarind pulp in 60 ml boiling water in a bowl for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Add soy sauce and sugar, and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Heat oil in a large wok or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and onions and stir fry for about 5-6 minutes.
- Now add in the tomatoes and saute until it softens. Mix in the shrimp paste, chilli paste, tamarind liquid and water. Simmer till the sauce thickens.
- Add the squid/ octopus and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, make sure not to over cook them.
- Transfer it to a serving dish and let it sit for 5-8 minutes allowing the squid to absorb all the flavours. Serve with lime and turmeric rice (nasi kunyit).
