delicious Australia — November 2017

We welcome MasterChef 2017 winner Diana Chan

to delicious. Her column will celebrate her Malaysian

heritage and feature wholesome, nourishing recipes.

FRESH STARTER

WORDS & RECIPE

DIANA CHAN

PHOTOGRAPHY

NIGEL LOUGH

MERCHANDISING &

PROP STYLING

EMMALY STEWART

FOOD STYLING

PHOEBE WOOD

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

NETWORK TEN

WINNING MASTERCHEF HAS opened up incredible opportunities, allowing me to

pull back on my career as an accountant and focus on pursuing my passion for food.

For my first delicious. recipe, I’ve chosen a dish that brings back a lot of childhood

memories, sambal hae bee (which translates to dried baby shrimp sambal). This was

always a breakfast treat, and traditionally we would eat the sambal on some buttered

white bread (trust me, it works). This recipe has been passed down to me by my mother.

It is a Nyonya dish, a distinct form of Malaysian cuisine that evolved from descendants of

the intermarriages of Chinese immigrants with the local Malays native to Melaka, Penang

and Singapore. Their food is a fusion of traditional Chinese and Malay. Nyonya cooking

focuses on the blending of tangy, aromatic spices with lots of fresh herbs, so think

ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal, chillies, turmeric and belacan (shrimp paste).

I took my childhood inspiration and decided to create a fresh and fun way of eating

this spicy, punchy and bold-flavoured sambal, pairing it with crunch and freshness.

The idea is to have this as a DIY canape or appetiser when your guests arrive.

I want the next year of my column to be interesting and educational, and hopefully I can

share some of my traditional Nyonya/Malaysian heritage with you through my recipes.

Food, to me, is theatre, and my family and I want to be able to share this with you. I hope

you enjoy creating this dish and I can’t wait to show you what I have in store next.

BETEL LEAF SAMBAL HAE BEE

SERVES 4-6 AS A CANAPE

1 cup (200g) medium-grain rice, rinsed

2 bunches betel leaves (from Asian food

shops – substitute lettuce leaves),

leaves picked

Coriander leaves, thinly sliced red chilli,

fried Asian shallots, chopped roasted

peanuts and lime wedges, to serve

SAMBAL HAE BEE (MAKES 2^1 / 2 CUPS)

125g dried baby shrimp (from Asian

food shops)

(^1) / 2 cup (20g) dried red chillies,
half seeds removed
2 long red chillies
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 Asian (red) eschalots, peeled
1 lemongrass stalk, white part chopped
1 tsp each chopped turmeric, ginger
and belacan (shrimp paste – from
Asian food shops)
(^1) / 2 cup (125ml) sunflower oil
2 tsp caster sugar
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
Place rice in a bowl, cover with water and
soak for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, for the sambal, place shrimp
and dried chillies in separate bowls, cover
with water and soak for 15 minutes. Drain.
Whiz shrimp in a food processor to fine
threads. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside. Whiz
dried and fresh chillies, garlic, eschalot,
lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, belacan
and 2 tbs water to a paste. Set aside.
To cook sticky rice, place drained rice
and 2 cups (500ml) water in a saucepan.
Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to
low and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from
heat and stand, covered, for 10 minutes or
until liquid is absorbed. Stir and set aside.
To cook sambal, heat oil in a wok over
high heat. Add sambal paste and cook,
stirring, for 3 minutes or until darkened
slightly. Add sugar, kaffir lime leaf, shrimp
and a pinch of salt flakes. Reduce heat to
medium and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes
or until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Spoon rice and sambal onto betel
leaves. Serve with coriander, chilli, fried
shallots, peanuts and lime wedges.
delicious.com.au/recipes For more MasterChef recipes.
@diana.chan.au
@DianaChanAU
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