flipBalachaung — crispy dried shrimp condiment
Balachaung — crispy dried shrimp condiment
Why this dish? Balachaung keeps for weeks in a jar and transforms a simple bowl of rice into a meal. Frugal, durable, ready to help on lean days, it evokes those long periods of scarcity when Daw Suu, under house arrest, had to make do with very little.
A crispy brown mixture of pounded dried shrimp, fried garlic and onion, spiced with chili, to sprinkle over hot rice.
Always keep a jar of this in your kitchen: it is the secret for difficult days. When provisions ran low, a spoonful of balachaung over a little rice sufficed to make a meal. You fry the garlic and onion until golden brown, pound the dried shrimp, add a hint of chili. It keeps a long time and consoles many a famine: a small pot of endurance, in short.
- •Dried shrimp — a good amount (salty umami)
- •Garlic — several heads (aromatic crunch)
- •Onion or shallot — several (crunch)
- •Dried chili — to taste (spiciness)
- •Oil — for frying (cooking and preservation)
Balachaung — crispy dried shrimp condiment
A crispy brown mixture of pounded dried shrimp, fried garlic and onion, spiced with chili, to sprinkle over hot rice.
Why this dish? Balachaung keeps for weeks in a jar and transforms a simple bowl of rice into a meal. Frugal, durable, ready to help on lean days, it evokes those long periods of scarcity when Daw Suu, under house arrest, had to make do with very little.
Always keep a jar of this in your kitchen: it is the secret for difficult days. When provisions ran low, a spoonful of balachaung over a little rice sufficed to make a meal. You fry the garlic and onion until golden brown, pound the dried shrimp, add a hint of chili. It keeps a long time and consoles many a famine: a small pot of endurance, in short.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried shrimp — a good amount (salty umami)
- Garlic — several heads (aromatic crunch)
- Onion or shallot — several (crunch)
- Dried chili — to taste (spiciness)
- Oil — for frying (cooking and preservation)
Ingredients
- Dried shrimp — 150 g (salty umami)
- Garlic — 1 large head, sliced (aromatic crunch)
- Shallots — 4, sliced (crunch)
- Chili flakes — 1 to 2 tsp (spiciness)
- Neutral oil — 150 ml (cooking and preservation)
- Shrimp paste (ngapi) or fish sauce — 1 tsp (optional) (umami)
Method
- Blend or pound the dried shrimp into a coarse powder.
- Fry the garlic and shallot in oil over medium heat until golden brown and crispy, then drain.
- In the same oil, dry-fry the shrimp powder, stirring, until it browns and becomes crispy.
- Add the chili, return fried garlic and shallot, mix, and let cool completely.
- Store in an airtight jar and serve a spoonful over hot rice.
How it was made : Rich in salt and fried in its oil, balachaung kept for weeks without refrigeration — valuable in a hot climate. Every Burmese family kept a jar to turn a simple bowl of rice into a meal, especially in times of scarcity.
The contemporary twist : Presented in a small gift jar labeled 'endurance reserve', to offer with a bag of fragrant rice for a homemade Burmese gift set.
Aung San Suu Kyi · Charactorium
