Belacan is so synonymous and indispensable to Malaysians, it has drawn praises to the highest heavens and silent curses from those unaccustomed to its stinky aroma. Despite the love-hate relationship, one cannot imagine how empty life would be without perennial favourites like sambal belacan, kangkung belacan, nasi goreng belacan, fried belacan chicken and a myriad more. However have you ever wondered what goes into making this Malaysian favourite must have?

According to Mr Ee Kim Cheng, a Malaccan Baba retiree who is a passionate belacan connoisseur, the quality of commercial belacan differs greatly from homemade ones. Due to commercial bottomlines and profit margins, he laments that commercial belacan usually contain colouring, preservatives, flour or other cheaper ingredients to ensure the end product looks attractive yet remained reasonably priced to cost conscious consumers. He also recalled visiting a factory where he saw belacan blocks were carelessly laid on canvas sheets on the ground and open to all elements including rain, insects and rodents!

With quality belacan being so crucial in Peranakan cooking, homemade belacan has been consistently used within the Ee family for generations. When his mother grew too old to make her own belacan, a Nyonya neighbour offered her homemade belacan to the family but the supply dwindled as she grew older. With the belacan experts giving way to old age, he felt it was his turn to continue the tradition. Along with his wife’s help, they learnt the process through trial and error combined with his mother’s guidance. Eventually, she gave her nod of approval and deemed it worthy for her kitchen.

The beloved matriarch has since passed on but her belacan legacy lives on with her youngest son. “The secret to good belacan is simple. 2 ingredients – fresh gragao shrimps and salt,” he reiterated while checking on his latest batch baking under the scorching sun. The supply of gragao shrimps depends on season. When in season, Mr Ee would drive to the nearby beaches to check with the local fishermen for their latest harvest of fresh gragao shrimps. With 1kg of shrimps equating to 1 belacan block, Mr Ee buys only the freshest and takes it back home to start the production process.

"2 ingredients – fresh gragao shrimps and salt"

The fresh shrimps must be thoroughly washed under running water twice to rid it of sand and other impurities. The shrimps are then dried in the sun. After adding salt, the mixture is pounded and dried again under the sun to extract more water. Then it is kept in a plastic bag and left to ferment in a sealed bucket for some time. Care must be taken with the paste because if a single fly comes into contact with the paste, the entire batch is ruined. When the paste is about 50% dry and achieves the desired sticky texture, the paste is pressed into a mold and cut accordingly. The blocks are then dried under the sun again until it is hardened. Each block is then individually packed for sale.

It's not easy making great belacan, certainly not for those with a delicate disposition.

How his belacan gained a following started when a friend from the East Coast requested Mrs Ee to send her a block of a popular brand of belacan from Melaka. Along with the commercial brand, she slipped in her smaller sized homemade belacan. On her next trip, the friend declined the branded belacan but requested to buy the ‘smaller’ belacan which proved to be a hit with her family. The positive feedback encouraged them to produce more of their homemade belacan and its popularity spread by word of mouth.

Baba Ee, as he is affectionately known, now receives orders from as far as Kelantan and even concerned mothers who will send it overseas to their homesick children craving for a taste of home. He only supplies as long as there are fresh gragao shrimps in season. If there are no shrimps, there is no belacan, period. Many times he has had to decline orders as he refused to compromise on the quality of his belacan. As the same batch is also for personal consumption and distribution to his family, only the excess stock is for sale to the public.

Though the price is higher than commercially made ones, Baba Ee makes it up with his stringent quality standards. The aroma is more subtle; its true flavor unleashed once it is dry fried or baked. The belacan may be kept for over a year in the fridge and remains fresh and tasty. There is also no grainy texture on your tongue as all impurities are expelled, just pure shrimpy goodness. I tried his belacan when frying kangkung and it came out super yummy with the dark aromatic gravy perfect with plain rice. Go easy on the belacan though as a little goes a long way. I swore the pungent smell lingered in my apartment and corridor for days… Fortunately, not a word of complaint from my neighbours!

Baba Ee also makes his own cencaluk from the same shrimps, but that’s another story altogether eh?