This is bubuk…
…those tiny shrimps that they use to ferment and make cincaluk, dried and sold in packs of RM2.00 or RM4-5 each for the bigger ones.
It is seasonal and when they appear at our shores, that would be the time when they would start making belacan (dried prawn paste), cincaluk (fermented shrimps) or just dry them for sale and that would be the best time to buy and stock up on these things as they would be very fresh.
With the soaring prices of hay bee/udang kering (dried prawns) these days, going up to over RM100 at times, those straight ones from Igan, this would be a good alternative to use for sambal like what I did when I fried some rice that day.
I soaked a handful in hot water for a while to soften and then, I pounded it, adding a little bit of belacan to it, and I also pounded these ingredients…
…as well.
Once done, I was ready to roll…
I heated some oil in the wok and yes, you may need a bit more than usual as the pounded shrimps (left) may soak up all of it later. Once it was hot enough, I added the pounded ingredients (right) and fried till brown before adding the serai (lemon grass), bruised…
…and then, the rice went in.
I added a sprinkling of salt and an egg and mix it all together thoroughly before dishing it all out…
…and yes, it was very nice…
…just like when frying rice with the regular hay bee/udang kering but when I used it for my sambal buah emplam that day, I could see some tiny black spots in the sambal – those would be the eyes of the bubuk, perfectly safe for consumption.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
This looks wonderful, Arthur!
Tasted wonderful too!
Though it is bubuk season, I still can’t manage to get my cincaluk from my regular stall which has been out of stock for quiet sometimes. Your fried rice looks great.
Must know where the good ones are, not all are good especially those that they sell at the market.
Nice work. Fried rice look good.
It was good.
Homecooked is very sedap one especially eating them immediately after cooking… I am doing my own dinner most days except for weekends… rest! π
So nice, to be able to rest. Girl comes home and cooks or you two eat out? Not good to eat out too often, home-cooked better and healthier.
Drooling over the fried rice…
Yum yummm!!!
I can already taste it in my mouth!
My mom will always add some rice after pounding sambal belacan and pound the rice to ‘clean’ the mortar. I will always be the privileged one to get to eat that rice but not now as I don’t live with her anymore π¦ I imagine your fried rice to taste almost similar to that π
Nyonya, nyona…zaman sekarang! Go and learn all that she knows, keep the heritage going on and on.
so that’s bubuk.. i think i’ve tried them somewhere before.. very tasty indeed.
Somewhere? Where? I think they are called krill, now krill oil is the in-thing. They claim it is better than Omega-3!
Oh nice! Looks amazing, wonder if i have the honor to try in my next visit to Sibu π
Your next? When was the first? You went to Kuching – I guess that’s about it.
Mai aneh la, will surely drop by some day k? *hugs*
Right here waiting. π
interesting – back in malacca, the word for this was geragau – i’ve not heard the word bubuk used before, but i believe bubuk and geragau are the same thing. i love it – it can also be battered and fried π
Yes, one and the same. I dunno, we call it bubuk here. Maybe it’s the local name…or the name in Bahasa Sarawak. Like what we call Bandong in Sibu – they have different names in other areas and in the native languages here. Over at your side, it is called ubi kayu.
Yum yum. Must be good!!
Yes, like noodles fried with sambal. Yummy!