Belacan aka Fermented Shrimp Paste - Why Would You Eat That?

Belacan mixed with some chilies and lime juice makes sambal belacan, which in various forms has been used in pretty much every Southeast Asian cuisine for at least as long as British colonists have been conquering far away lands, being super-racist, and cataloging everything they ate and drank overseas. To make this fermented seafood paste, you take a crap-ton of krill -- tiny sea creatures that are basically shrimp -- and grind them then smush them into a block. Used originally as a preservative and also as a flavoring, it can be subtle but by itself belacan smells like gym socks. However, in small amounts or as spicy sambal belacan, it tastes quite good IN things like rice. You're not really supposed to just bite into it like a chocolate bar, but that's not going to stop Truly and the gang from tormenting their poor, poor office mates.

Have you ever tried belacan? What did you think? Tell us in the comments below!


On Why Would You Eat That? we scour the globe for the most bizarre foods and explain why anyone would be crazy enough to eat them. You'll be shocked to see how one man's trash can actually be another man's delicacy. Don't forget to subscribe to Tasted for a new episode of Why Would You Eat That? every Friday!

[jonfisher]

It's literally like making someone eat a stock cube. Of course the flavour would be overpowering. Learn to cook with it and it's delicious!

[TaeNyv]

you're not eating it right.. no one eat from the block itself... you need to mix it with other ingredient... =.=

[nizwu]

Eating belacan this way is no different than drinking tomato sauce directly from the bottle. Seriously.

[nicqafyqq]

omg... it's not like i take it seriously, but i'm Malaysian and i feel offended... we don't eat "belacan" from the block, we cook them with other ingridients to make a dish which most of European that i've met enjoy it so much.. dude.. you need to gather more info before posting this... sigh..

[avaguavaa]

i think its more of an ingredient than an actual food you guys.. i wouldn't eat them raw lol

[thimmee]

Yeah this stuff is really good when used in small amounts and in combination with other ingredients. It's like a shrimp stock cube.

[HalemMSaad]

in malaysia, belacan is used as ingredient in making cuisine.. no one eat raw belacan.. :-D

[kintokisa]

holyshit... that is seasoning... Like how you use anchovy in some sauces for the taste. No matter how much you like cinnamon taste, you wouldn't gulp the down a cinnamon powder just like that wouldn't you?

Why would you make ppl eat it raw, lol, wouldn't even do that to my enemies...

[SilentMover]

Let me make you guys belacan fried chicken and you will never go back to KFC.

[garys]

you cant just eat it like that ! first you need to roast it first to release its flavor, and after that you can put it in stir fried water spinach or in sambal, which is what we do here in Indonesia and Malaysia

[Igrouve]

I love my shrimp paste on an unripe mango. :)

[klaud]

i find this youtube series incredibly culture insensitive.

[UmbraeVenator]

This looks so similar to how vegemite is marketed to countries other than Australia. Don't use peppers and don't give it to them straight. Give it to them in the most traditional and stereotypical dish.

[shiinaai]

I'm a Malaysian and in my opinion, spinach without belacan is just bland and sambal belacan is great.. I can't imagine how caucasians think it's stinky. I have eat it raw too, usually to find out how strong the taste is before deciding how much of it I should put into my cooking.

[JimexJimex]

What you are doing is like feeding a FULL TEA-SPOONFUL of MUSTARD to a Chinese dude. Of course he will say it tastes bad. It's NOT MEANT to be eaten like that.

[tasted]

it tastes really good in the spicy sambal belacan, the way it's meant to be eaten lol

[MrWillypanda]

seriously... it doesn't smell that bad....

[hakeemshamsuri]

if you mix belacan, vinegar, sugar and a little bit of salt, you can dip it with green and hard mango

[WadoreofLanta]

Belacan is called Kapi in Thailand and it is used in almost all Thai curry.

If you have eaten Thai curry before you probably already eaten the belacan :)

[Tai_Mai_Shu]

Entertaining and interesting as usual!!