
Hae Bee Hiam (Dried Shrimp Spicy Sambal)
Dried Shrimp Spicy Sambal or, better known as Hae Bee Hiam, is a popular condiment that Asians love!
The explosive flavours of the savoury fried chilli shrimps is addictive! You can have it with plain rice, bread, or as a condiment to enhance the flavours of your meat and vegetables, whichever you prefer!
Anne is a veteran home cook who is very particular when it comes to making her very own Hae Bee Hiam. To achieve a consistent fluffy texture and the best flavour, she insists on pounding the dried shrimps using the most traditional method - Pestle and Mortar.
We have tried the recipe and we simply love it! What is Share Food's way of eating, you may ask? We would say, squeeze a lime to three tablespoons of Hae Bee Hiam. The extra zest will keep you coming back for more!
Here are the ingredients you need: dried shrimps, chilli paste, salt, sugar, dried chillies, shallots, lemongrass, candlenuts, Belachan, garlic and turmeric.
Firstly, prepare the dried red chilli.
Cut open the dried red chilli to remove the seeds. Soak dried red chilli in a bowl. Set aside till it softens. Remove from bowl.

Soak dried red chilli till soften
Secondly, blend and cook the chilli paste.
Blend soaked red chillies with one tablespoon of oil, until fine texture. In a separate bowl, blend the remaining ingredients, except the lemongrass, with two tablespoons of oil until fine.

Blend soaked red chillies with oil
Here’s a tip for sharing! If you blend the red chillies and other ingredients separately, the ingredients will be blended to a finer texture.
In a frying pan with three tablespoons of oil, pour in the paste and lemongrass. Fry on medium low heat until a deep red colour is achieved. If the paste is too dry, add in one to two tablespoons of oil gradually. Add in salt and sugar, fry till the sugar dissolves. You may adjust the taste as desired.

Fry the chilli paste and lemongrass with oil
Here’s another tip for sharing! If you intend to use this chilli paste as a base to cook the other dishes, do not add in too much seasoning as it may affect the taste of the other ingredients.
Thirdly, pound the dried prawn.
In a pestle and mortar, pound dried prawns finely. Scoop and place the pounded dried prawn in a bowl.

Pound the dried prawns finely
Lastly, fry the Hae Bee Hiam!
In a heated pan, add in the pounded prawn. Dry fry till it’s dried. Remove from pan.

Dry fry the pounded prawn
Fry chilli paste and four tablespoons of oil till the oil seeps through. Add in the pounded prawn and continue to fry on medium-low heat.
If the paste gets too dry, add in 1 tablespoon of oil gradually to adjust the consistency. Do avoid adding too much oil to prevent the Hae Be Hiam from becoming lumpy!
Continue to fry till the chilli combines with the dried prawns. Once it has turned brown, add in salt and sugar, and adjust as desired. Fry till the sugar dissolves. Remove from wok and let cool.
Allow it to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator or serve.

A fragrant spicy shrimp sambal ready to be paired with any dish!
What a spicy and aromatic combination! Sounds good? Try making it and we are sure you will be addicted!

Servings | Prep Time |
1 bottle | 40 minutes |
Cook Time |
20 minutes |
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Dried Shrimps Spicy Sambal or better known as Hae Bee Hiam, is a popular dish that Asians love. It can be used almost everywhere! You can go with your plain rice, bread, or even as a condiment to enhance the flavours of your meat and vegetable. That's how good it is!
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- 200 g dried shrimps soak for 30 mins till it softens.
- 6 tbsp chilli paste
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 35 g dried chillies cut into half
- 250 g shallots peeled and cut into small pieces
- 1 stalk lemongrass bruised
- 2 candlenuts
- 20 g Belachan toasted
- 45 g garlic
- 15 gm turmeric peeled and cut into small pieces
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- In a bowl, pour in hot water until it covers the chilli. Set aside till it softens.
- Remove the de-seed red chilli from the bowl.
- Pour the red chilli and 1 tbsp oil into the blender. Blend till fine. In a separate bowl, blend the remaining ingredients, except the lemongrass, with 2 tbsp oil. Blend till fine. TIP: Blending the red chilli and other ingredients separately will allow the ingredients to be blended to a finer texture.
- In a frying pan with 3 tbsp oil, pour in the paste and lemongrass. Fry on medium fire until the ingredients changed it’s colour to deep red. If the paste is too dry, add in 1 – 2 tbsp of oil gradually. Add in salt and sugar, fry till the sugar melted. Adjust the taste as desired. Set aside. TIP: If you intend to use this chilli paste as a base to cook other dishes, do not add in too much seasoning as it may affect the taste of other ingredients.
- In a pestle and mortar, pound dried prawns finely. Scoop and place the pounded dried prawn in a bowl.
- In a heated pan, add in the pounded prawn. Dry fry till it’s dried. Set aside.
- In a pan with 4 tbsp oil, add in chilli paste and fry till the oil seeps through. Add in the pounded prawn and continue to fry on medium-low heat. If the paste is too dry, add in 1 tbsp of oil gradually. TIP: Avoid adding too much oil to prevent the Hae Be Hiam from becoming lumpy.
- Continue to fry till the chilli combines with the dried prawns. Once it has turned brown, add in salt and sugar, adjust as desired. Fry till the sugar melted. Remove from wok and let cool.
- Allow it to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator or serve.
This recipe will yield:
- 300g Chilli Paste
- 200g Hae Bee Hiam
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