Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 15 dried chilies – de-seeded and soaked in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 900 ml water
- 1 bottle tomato ketchup
- 60g palm sugar (If not available, substitute with brown sugar)
- 50g tamarind paste
- 5 tbsp shrimp paste
- 1 cup peanuts – Roasted and chopped/grind coarsely
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds – Roasted
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For the salad:
- 500g Squid – cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 bunch of water convolvulus (Kangkong) – cut into bite-sized pieces
- 6 Tofu puffs or 2 fresh tofu
- 1 Cucumber
Instructions
To make the sauce:
- Mix the tamarind paste in 1/2 cup of water. Mix well, squeeze and strain it into a bowl.
- Heat oil and fry blended ingredients for 10 minutes
- Add tomato ketchup, shrimp paste, sugar, salt and tamarind juice.
- Cook the sauce for about 15 minutes till it thickens.
- Add half of the chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
For the salad:
- Cook the squid in a pot of salted boiling water till soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to drain.
- Discard the water and boil a fresh pot of water. Blanch the water convolvulus for 30 seconds to 1 minute and strain using a colander.
- Place the tofu puffs in a hot oven or a frying pan for a few minutes to crisp up.
- If you are using fresh tofu, cut the tofu into cubes and shallow fry in a frying pan till golden.
- Slice the cucumbers.
To serve:
- Add the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and top with a good serving of sauce. Scattered with the remaining chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
Notes
If water convolvulus is not available, you can use spinach instead.