Pickled Cucumbers in Sambal Belacan, Sambal Timun, is the perfect side dish to accompany a typical Malaysian rice or noodle-based meal. Both spicy and refreshing, it adds exquisite layers of taste to meal-times.
This quick-to-prepare, no fuss dish will enhance and flavor an otherwise bland meal, which can be a great help when you haven’t got the time to cook a lavish meal.
Ingredients:
- 1 large cucumber
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 3 Tbsp sambal belacan
Preparation:
- Cut off both ends of the cucumber. Cut the cucumber into half, length-wise and using a tablespoon remove the seeds in the middle. Slice both halves, perpendicularly, into thick slices.
- In a bowl, mix the sliced cucumbers with 2 Tbsp of salt. Mix well and let it marinate for about 45 minutes. This process will extract most of the liquid from the cucumber leaving it nice and crunchy, with a slightly shriveled up look.
- Rinse the cucumber to remove the salt and water, and leave it to dry for about 10 minutes in a strainer.
- In a salad bowl, add 3 Tbsp of sambal belacan and mix well with the cucumber. Add more sambal belacan if you like it more spicy.
- The Sambal Timun is ready to be served! Enjoy it with Indonesian Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng), noodles, Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar) and other dishes of your choice.
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