Malaysian Fruit Salad

1.

For the dressing, put the shrimp paste, chillies, tamarind pulp, lime juice and 120ml water into a mini food processor and whiz together until it is as smooth as possible.

2.

Scrape the mixture into a small saucepan and add the sugar and another 100ml water.

3.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the sauce thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pass through a sieve into a bowl and leave to cool. Don’t refrigerate as it will get too thick.

4.

For the toppings, lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until lightly golden. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Coarsely chop the peanuts.

5.

For the salad, cut the pineapple into 2cmpieces. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and then across into 1cm-thick slices. Peel the mango and cut into similarly sized pieces.

6.

Peel the nashi pears or apples, core and cut into thin wedges.

7.

Arrange the fruit on 4 plates and drizzle over the sauce. Sprinkle with the peanuts and sesame seeds and serve.