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Burmese Sambal

A spicy shrimp-based condiment made with dried shrimps, garlic, coconut oil, chilies, vinegar, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Shrimp and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,743 recipes. Both carry 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, which smells roasted, nutty. The science ↓

Burmese Sambal

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Carefully pick the dried shrimps and do not soak them in water.

  2. Place the shrimps on a clean stone or in a curry bowl and beat them well.

  3. Roll the shrimps very finely on a curry stone along with the chillies and blachan.

  4. Dissolve the assam java in ½ teacup of cold water.

Cook the sambal

  1. Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan, then add the finely sliced garlic.

  2. Add the shrimps to the pan and stir constantly over low heat.

  3. Incorporate the blachan, chillies, vinegar, and salt into the mixture.

  4. Stir in most of the assam java juice while continuously turning the mixture with a flat spoon.

  5. Cook until the mixture is nicely browned and coffee colored.

Store

  1. Transfer to small bottles and seal once cooled.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Shrimp + garlictop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,743 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  2. Garlic + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Shrimp + vinegartop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together862 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried shrimps
Provide concentrated savoury umami flavour that defines the sambal.
Garlic
Adds aroma and pungency that mellows and sweetens as it cooks in oil.
Cocoanut oil
Carries the chilli and garlic flavours and helps the mixture fry and brown evenly.
Chillies
Supply heat and colour to the paste.
Assam java
Adds sourness and acidity that balances the rich, salty shrimp.
Blachan
Contributes fermented, pungent depth that rounds out the flavour.

The step that matters

Cook until nicely browned and coffee coloured. Frying the mixture slowly over low heat lets sugars and proteins brown gradually through the Maillard reaction, building deep flavour. Stopping too early leaves it raw-tasting, while overcooking can scorch and turn it bitter.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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