Simple solution…

I used to make my own sambal hay bee/udang kering (dried prawns) but the last time I made some…

…was way back in 2019.

These days, I feel exhausted just thinking about going through the chore because it is so very tedious especially when I insist on pounding the prawns manually using our stone mortar and pestle. Other than that, it was over RM100 a kilo (RM120, I think) at the time so I cannot imagine what the price is now, definitely a luxury that is not all that affordable anymore.

Well, I had a simple solution for this, which was to go out and buy. I did come across a FAIRLY nice one at a stall selling kuihs by the roadside near Lao Ya Keng in Kuching. Of course, when they use those cheap hay bee (which is not all that cheap either these days), you cannot expect it to be as nice as the ones I make at home. Unfortunately, there is nobody in Sibu, our good ol’ Foochow town, making and selling this. There may be people selling the nasi lemak sambal if I look hard enough, but not this.

Left without a choice, I went and got myself a bottle of this…

…made-in-Singapore serunding udang, they call it.

A lot of people would be familiar with it as they use it for the filling in their mini-popiah rolls…

…that they make and serve during Chinese New Year. Personally, I feel this is nicer than using meat floss.

I opened the bottle…

…and tried a bit but I thought it was a tad too sweet. It probably contains a lot of sugar so I must make sure that I go a little bit slow with it.

When I made my own sambal hay bee, I would eat it with rice, bread or crackers and I was thinking that I would give this a try and went and made my own sandwich…

No, it was not as nice…unfortunately and even though I thought it was sweet, eaten just like that, I found it very salty especially when I was very generous with the butter. The lettuce and the cheese did not leave any impression – it was the sweet and juicy cherry tomato slices that saved the day. They went really well with the serunding udang and in the end, I quite enjoyed it!

I must say that the spicy crispy prawn chili sambal…

…from here is very much nicer but the last time I bought some, it was way too oily, so oily that I would never want to buy anymore again.

Who knows? Perhaps one of these days, I may be desperate enough and end up making my own. LOL!!!