A pungent fermented seafood paste made from fish and shrimp, widely used in Southeast Asian cooking.
From Malay belacan, referring to this fermented ingredient found throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, and neighboring regions. The word entered English through colonial trade and culinary literature.
Balachan smells intensely fishy and pungent to Western noses, but it's absolutely essential to Southeast Asian cooking—it's the umami bomb that brings depth to curries and sauces, though it took globalization for Westerners to appreciate it.
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