High Quality Melaka Belacan Tumbuk

A gourmet Singaporean friend, Tiantianchi (his blog here, on makansutra) one day gave me this aromatic belacan labled, Melaka Belacan Tumbuk that totally blew my mind with such complex flavors. Apparently tumbuk means pounded in malay and the texture of this belacan is coarse and not like the commercially sold paste. For those unfamiliar with belacan (pronounced Blachan, also spelled, belachan or blacan), it is a fermented shrimp paste quintessential to S.E. Asian cuisine, giving a dish distinct flavor and richness. It is quite similar to Thai's gapi/kapi or Indonesian terasi/trassi. The color and texture depends on where the shrimp paste comes from but some of them are apparently dyed to a red color. Basically, the tiny shrimp known as geragau caught with a very fine net are salted and sun-dried and pounded to a paste with a machine into a puree and fermented. But as you can see, this belacan tumbuk is simply pounded to a coarse paste with a very coarse texture. Belacan is used for curries, stir fries and the most famous application being used to make a dip -a ubiquitous condiment known as sambal belacan -belacan, salt and red chilies crushed to a coarse paste using mortar and pestle, also known as chengku in Chinese and batu lseong in Malay. The smell of this ingredient is quite offending to some people (like a strong smelling anchovies) and so I guess the biohazard plastic bag really sums it all up. However, when belacan timbuk, sauteed in hot oil, releases its appetizing aroma, the flavor is truly addictive and exquisite.

東南アジア料理に欠かせない調味料で独特の風味を持っているのが、発酵した網エビをプレスやピューレにしたブラチャンだ。タイのガピ（カピ）そしてインドネシアのテラスィはブラチャンと良く似ている。シンガポールでは、私の知る限り地元で作っているブラチャンは見た事がない。スーパーやマーケットで見かけるのは大体がマラッカ又はペナン原産のものだ。個人的なオブザベーションだが、ペナン原産のものはタイに近いせいか、ガピに似た色と質感を持っている。マラッカ原産のものは種類も豊富でどちらかというと色がペナンのものよりも薄い。今回、グルメなシンガポールの友人に今までに味わった事の無い素晴らしいブラチャンを頂いた。ラベルにはマラッカ・ブラチャン・ティンブッと記載されているが、ティンブッ（ク）とは、クラッシュという意味である。なので通常、もっとピューレに近いブラチャンとは質感が違う（もっと粗粗しい感じだ）。炒めた時の風味も素晴らしく、なんだか高級なアンチョビーを思わせるブラチャンだ。早速このブラチャンを使用し、豚とキャベツを炒めたが、これがまた発酵した香ばしいエビが豚の油に合うこと！