Balinese Spice Paste For Fish (Base Be Pasih)

This is the basic recipe I always use each time I make indonesian fish dishes. Some of the ingredients here might be a little bit challenging to find in your area. If you are going to cook  Indonesian, or Balinese very often, it is worth to order them online. I also find it worth going to Asian grocery store in your area, who knows that they might carry some of this ingredients.

* Red fresno/jalapeno chili, is pretty easy to find in the States. Grocery store like WholeFoods, Safeway, NobHills,  would normally carry it. You can discard the seeds to make it less spicy. If you can find Thai chili in your area, this paste would taste much more original, but you might want to reduce the amount to about 5 or 7, unless you are familiar with the taste and really like it spicy.

** If candlenuts unavailable, I found that raw cashew nuts really work as substitute, it even make it tastier in my opinion. Use about 10 cashew nuts for this recipe.

Ingredients:
15 red fresno or jalapeno chiles*

5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

5 shallots, roughly chopped

2 tbs minced ginger

1 tsp turmeric powder or 2 tsp minced fresh turmeric

1/2 tsp zedoary powder (available at the Asian grocery store)

1 tbs lightly toasted coriander seeds

5 candlenuts** 

1 tsp dry roasted shrimp paste 

1 tbs fish sauce (use this brand, it's less fishy)

2 stalk fresh lemongrass, white part only, chopped

5 kaffir lime leafs, torn apart and discard the mid ribs

1 Balinese long pepper (optional)

1 tablespoon or more canola oil, for frying the paste

In a food processor, process all ingredients, except the oil into a smooth paste. You might need to add a little bit of water to keep the blade running.

Add enough oil into medium skillet, set the skillet over medium heat stove. Leave for a few seconds until oil is hot. When oil is hot enough, add spice paste and fry, stirring continuously until it releases its fragrances. Remove from the stove, let it cool completely. Once cooled, spoon the paste into a jar with tight fitting lid. Sore in the refrigerator for up to a week.