BELACAN - SHRIMP PASTE

Melaka is known for its unique belacan products. More than 16 stalls sell various types of traditional Melaka food along Klebang Besar to Tanjung Kling. Tourists who come to visit or visit Malacca also tend to make belacan as a hand fruit to bring back to relatives and friends. Belacan Melaka is different from belacan in other states because it is made from fresh geragau shrimp making the color quite pale. This geragau shrimp is caught using a special net during high tide. This shrimp is then cleaned of all impurities such as soil, sand, stones, and so on. Clean shrimp will be mixed with fine salt so that it is flat and dried in the sun so that it is half dry. Entrepreneurs will usually grind these semi-dried saline shrimp until they are half crushed with a little water. There are also those who use the pounding technique if they do not have a traditional rangar machine. The final step is to put the mixture into the cloth and put it in a container or barrel and overlap it with weights to compact it before simplifying it for a week in a suitable place. The process of drying, grinding, solidifying, and incubating will be done repeatedly to get smoother and more beautiful results. After the entrepreneur is satisfied with the level of fineness of the belacan, then it will be shaped and dried in the sun so that it is quite dry and suitable for grading, packaging, labeling, and so on the market. The manufacturing process needs to be done according to appropriate methods and tips to be more durable. Overall, the manufacturing process takes anywhere from three to eight weeks and depends on the type of equipment for the manufacturing process.