I have yet to try quite a few of the instant pastes from my cousins here and here…and also from my friend but my missus went and brought home this one…
…that somebody gave to my sister-in-law and she passed it to my missus to let us have a go at it. I was torn between using the one by Khadijah or this one – I reckoned they would be more or less the same thing but seeing that this one’s from a company in Singapore…
…though a product of Malaysia (they probably have their factory here as overheads and labour would be a whole lot cheaper considering our dwindling ringgit), I settled for this one in the end.
The packaging sure looked very nice and they claimed to be 100% natural plus all that jazz…
…and it sure was easy to use…
However, when I opened the pouch inside the packet, I did not like the smell, not at all. It was like the canned sambal ikan bilis (anchovies) and that put me off right away. Nonetheless, since I had already opened it, I just went on and used it to cook some prawns…
…with some Thai basil leaves and serai (lemon grass) added.
Sad to say, it was not nice, to say the least…
– the taste was somewhat peculiar, not like anything that I had had before and I actually thought the canned sambal ikan bilis or prawns that I do not fancy at all, would taste much better. I don’t know if it was my fault and the extra ingredients I threw in had adversely affected the overall taste but it was too late to cry over spilt milk – what had been done had been done.
Left with no other choice, we just ate the prawns – of course, being what they were, they tasted all right and the next morning, I took the leftovers, rinsed them and threw them into my fried bihun…
…using the Dollee sambal with shrimps which I thought had that canned smell as well but it was not as strong. Between the two bottles that I got from my friend, I like the other one, the Crispy Prawn Chili, a whole lot better and it was extra spicy too, just the way I love it! Thankfully, it turned out really nice and I sure would want to use the sambal again should I be frying any more bihun in the days to come.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
i guess that’s the thing about kitchen experimentation … sometimes things work, sometimes the combinations don’t … but part of the fun is in the process, hopefully!
Yes, we would not know unless we try, right? Can’t be applying the same formula to everything – may not turn out as well sometimes.
There’s a market here in TTDI where one of the vendors grinds all kinds of pastes from scratch. She’s such as gem! My favourite is her green curry paste. From right beside her stall you can then buy fresh coconut milk to go with it. 🙂
We used to have a stall here long long ago – my mum used to send me to go and buy from the woman…and I would be off on my bicycle to go on the errand. I don’t know of anybody doing the same thing now, not that I have been looking…but I sure would not mind buying freshly-squeezed coconut milk. I can’t seem to be able to do that myself…so I would just resort to the the not so nice ones in cans or in packets. 😦
Smell is very important. If you don’t like the smell, then it’s very hard to eat it.
It had the canned ikan bilis smell – I am not a fan of that. That alone would have got my double thumbs down. 😦
That’s why I am not adventurous like you to try everything unless someone say it is good. When you mentioned about the peculiar smell, instantly the expiry date came to my mind…but oh, still long way to go before it expires. Maybe they are using the lowest grade of shrimp paste.
Not, not expiry. All the preservatives, I’m sure. That is why most, if not all, canned stuff has that smell that puts me off. Well, somebody has to try or we’ll never know…so now we know – don’t go for this one!
Same with Irene, i am also not adventurous unless people recommended me which is good..
Looks like this one’s from your republic. If you see it in the shops, don’t buy! Not nice.
Oh no, I do not like any form of canned curry or sambal. So I understand what you meant about the smell and taste of that sambal paste.
Yup, I am not fond of them as well…and I guess there are more than just the two of us. 😦
Oh that’s too bad! However, it was nice you were able to turn a dish that didn’t taste nice into something that was enjoyable. Yes… I have rinsed off/changed a dish also. Reading that made me smile.
A few weeks ago, the beef dish I made for my daughtermy father, BF, his son and girlfriend started as a mistake, but I changed course and that turned into the dish that was liked the most. They scraped the bottom of that large pot. The chicken, eggrolls and potato salad were quite popular also. I could not give exact measurements (when asked) since I don’t use recipes.
If you like to experiment while cooking, quick thinking and are willing to change course, at times, you can turn a unpleasant meal into something that taste amazing.
Gotta salvage the prawns – they do not come cheap here , maybe this size around one ringgit each. Too expensive to just throw away. 😦
I am just like you – no recipes. We call it agak-agak (estimate) here and go according to one’s instincts which is bad as it is hard for someone else to cook something quite the same.
Perhaps, lack of belacan?
Don’t think so. That would change the taste even more, not going to make it better, I’m sure.
yah prawns looked huge and succulent.. to bad about the taste. Why arr? Coz no preservatives so it went off is it?! LOL
I am sure it was the other way round, hence the not very pleasant smell and taste.
err…..but the food looks so good and appetising !
Never judge a book by its cover. 😀