Stir Fry Spicy Sambal Okra
Air Fried Korean GoChuJang Yogurt Chicken

Photo of completed Stir Fry Spicy Sambal Okra

Okra, also known as lady’s fingers, is high in soluble fibre and contains vitamins A and C as well as antioxidants. It can be prepared in a variety of ways. Our recipe today is "Stir Fry Spicy Sambal Okra" along with our special homemade sambal. This recipe doesn’t require many ingredients to make. This quick, simple, and easy to prepare dish is an absolutely delicious dish that pairs well with steamed rice.

Ingredients:

  • 10 Fresh Okras
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons Sambal
  • 1-1 ½ Tablespoons Grapeseed Oil (or your choice of cooking oil)
  • 2 Tablespoons Dried Shrimps (rinsed and soaked for 20 minutes to soften)
  • ¼ Teaspoon Fish Sauce (optional)
  • 2-3 Tablespoons Water/Water from soaking dried shrimps (see instructions #5, room temperature water)
  • Salt & Sugar (to taste)

Instructions:

  1. Wash dried shrimp and soak them in a bowl of water. Set aside to soften.
  2. Wash and gently pat dry the okra with a kitchen towel.
  3. Cut or slice up okra any way you like, then set aside.
  4. Heat up a pan with cooking oil at medium heat.
  5. Remove the softened dried shrimp and keep the water that you used to soak the shrimp for later.
  6. When the pan is ready, add the dried shrimp and stir fry for 2 minutes.
  7. Add in sambal and continue to stir for another minute or so.
  8. Add the cut or sliced okra to the pan and stir fry until the okra is combined with the sambal.
  9. After 1 minute, add the fish sauce and the water that we soaked the dried shrimp in and set aside earlier.
  10. Stir fry for another 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat.
  11. Test the taste to see if you need to add sugar and salt before turning off the heat, because our homemade sambal contained sugar and salt.
  12. When you are satisfied with the taste, turn off the heat and transfer them to a serving plate.
  13. It is best served warm with steamed rice.
  14. Enjoy!
*** © MB CREATIVE KITCHEN, 2022. No part of this site,, MBCREATIVEKITCHEN.COM may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.

Tips & Notes:

  1. Rinse and pat dry fresh okra with a paper towel before cutting or slicing. Don’t rinse it after this.
  2. Double up the recipe ingredients for a big serving.
  3. We cut the okra into semi-thick slices at an angle, but you can cut them any way you want.
  4. We used our homemade sambal belacan recipe here. But you can make your own, store-bought or try/use our sambal recipe.
  5. Our homemade sambal contained salt and sugar, so we didn’t use a lot in the cooking process. If the sambal you use contains salt and sugar, taste test first before adding more salt and sugar at the final step before turning off the heat.
  6. If you are not a fan of fish sauce, just omit it.
  7. Instead of softened dried shrimp, you can use fresh or frozen shrimp.
  8. If you can’t take seafood, just omit it and stir fry them with just okra and chili-based sambal (vegetarian sambal).
  9. We used grapeseed oil, but feel free to use your choice of cooking oil.
  10. Reuse the water that you soaked dried shrimp in. After soaking with the dried shrimp, the water has a mild umami flavor that we can use for cooking to enhance the flavor of our dish. If you don’t want to use this method, just use room temperature water.
Click On Photo To View Fullscreen
Back to Main