Sambal Goreng Green Beans with Shrimps

The combination of green beans and shrimps is ultimate. This sambal goreng green beans with shrimps dish is packed with flavor. The shrimps give exactly the amount of extra flavor (salt and umami) to the beans. I make this dish with a different recipe in Beb’s book: sambal goreng snow peas.

The description for recipe # 69, states:

Make this sambal goreng as sambal goreng snow peas and add 50 grams of shrimps.

I have made the sambal goreng snow peas before, but I’m going to tackle this version with shrimps a little differently. I use green beans and make the sauce like a sambal goreng of shrimp (recipe # 68 from Beb’s book). This is very similar to the sambal goreng snow peas recipe, but you have to add asem (tamarind) and jeruk purut leaves.

Sambal Goreng Beans with Shrimp (Sambal Goreng Buncis with Udang)

Ingredients (sambal goreng shrimp # 69)

• 1/4 kg shrimp
• 3 tablespoons of sliced onions
• 1 clove of sliced garlic
• 1 teaspoon sambal terasi (or 1 teaspoon sambal ulek and 1/2 teaspoon terasi)
• 1 teaspoon of laos (galangal)
• 1 teaspoon of Javanese sugar
• 1 stalk sereh (lemongrass)
• 1 salam (Asian bay leave)
• asem the size of a walnut (tamarind)
• 2 jeruk purut (Kaffir lime leaves)
• 1/8 block santen (coconut cream)
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• salt

My way of preparing:

1. Rub onions, garlic, sambal, laos, sugar and salt to make a paste (or use a kitchen machine)
2. Sauté this in the oil until the onions turn yellow
3. Add the green beans (cleaned and broken in two) and stir-fry briefly
4. Add the santen, asem, brushed lemongrass and the leaves (jeruk purut and salam).
5. Add a cup of water and place the lid on the pan
6. Leave this on medium heat for 10 minutes
7. Mix it and make sure the santen melts well
8. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes until the beans are al dente
9. Turn off the gas and add the shrimps.

I have bought 600 grams of green beans because I like to eat lots of vegetables. Also, this sambal goreng green beans with shrimp dish tastes even better tomorrow.

Santen is coconut cream; a block of hard-boiled coconut milk. Asem is tamarind and I buy it already filtered in a jar. Salam is Asian bay leaf and jeruk purut are kaffir lime leaves (or lemon leaves). Sereh is lemongrass. Terasi or trassi is a block of fermented shrimps. I love trassi. It gives Indonesian food that typical flavor.

I chop up onions, garlic, sambal, laos, sugar and salt into a paste with my kitchen machine.

This bumbu (spice mix) has to be sauteed in a little oil to release all the flavors.

It smells nice and strong at home now. The chili makes it deliciously spicy. It has to be spicy because this is a ‘sambal goreng’ beans and ‘sambal goreng’ means: ‘sauteed in chili salsa’.

The raw beans can be added to it now. I keep stirring with the gas on high heat. I of course washed and cleaned the beans and broke them in half.

After a minute or two, I add the lemongrass, santen, the leaves and asem. I also add a cup of water, so the santen can melt easily.

I place the lid on, so the beans have a chance to cook well. I let this simmer for 5 minutes or until they are al dente (I check them after 4 minutes).

Now the last step. The shrimps can be added. My shrimps are already cooked. So I kill the heat, add the shrimps, mix it up and leave them to warm up in the mix.

If you have raw shrimps, add them earlier in the process until they are done. Do not overcook shrimps. That will make them chewy.

Because I used the bumbu recipe for sambal goreng shrimp, the spice mix is very rich in flavor. The herb leaves gives a lot of flavor. You can also make this dish with snow peas or green beans or with cabbage. Enjoy and selamat makan!