Burmese Dried Shrimp Relish (Ba La Chaung) ဘာလေခ်ာင္ေၾကာ္

Ba La Chaung is a popular Myanmar side dish. In Shan State, the taste is a little different from original taste by adding more tamarind sauce and sometimes a little sugar.There are two types of Ba La Chaung; wet and crispy type. This time I am making a wet type. The taste is sour, spicy and a little salty which is very match with hot rice. Traditionally it serves with sour soup, curry and other vegetable dishes.  


Ingredients
100g Dried Shrimp
1 Medium Onion, sliced thinly
10 Cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 Tsp Shrimp Paste
3 Tbsp Tamarind Sauce
1Tbsp Chili powder (more as liking)
1 Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Vegetable oil
Vegetable oil for deep frying onion and garlic

Floss dried shrimp-Soak dried shrimp in the lukewarm water for 30 minutes, then put it in food processor and blend well to the floss.

Finely sliced onion and garlic

Deep fried sliced onion in the vegetable oil until golden brown and set aside, repeat  the same with garlic, watch very carefully not to burn them. (Skip this step if using ready made crispy fried onion and garlic) 

Crispy garlic and onion

 

• Dissolve shrimp paste with lukewarm water.If using dry tamarind, soak it in lukewarm water to get sauce.
• Heat 3 Tbsp Vegetable oil and fry floss dried shrimp until becomes a little dry then add tamarind sauce, shrimp paste and chili powder. Continued stirring until it becomes  dry.
• Let it cool down completely.
• Add crispy onion and garlic, taste it and add salt if necessary. 
• Serve it immediately and keep the remaining in the airtight container.