← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Thai shrimp paste (kapi)
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 5 Bird's eye chilli
• 1 tbsp Dried shrimp (optional)
• 1½ tbsp Palm sugar, grated
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 10 Pea aubergines (makhuea phuang) (optional)
• cucumber, long beans, cabbage and blanched greens, to serve

Method

1. Wrap the shrimp paste in a small square of foil and toast it in a dry pan over medium heat for 1 minute per side, until it smells roasted.
2. Pound the garlic in a mortar into a paste, then add the chillies and dried shrimp and pound until coarse.
3. Add the toasted shrimp paste and palm sugar and pound until the sugar dissolves into a thick, dark paste.
4. Stir in the lime juice, fish sauce and hot water. Add the pea aubergines and crush them lightly so they split. Taste: it should be very salty, sour, hot and only a little sweet.
5. Serve in a small bowl with a platter of vegetables, rice and some fried fish or omelette.

Tips

• Toast the shrimp paste with the window open; the smell is strong but mellows beautifully.
• Contains shellfish. It keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand Rachel Cooks Thai Eating Thai Food