Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi (also spelled trassi, terasie) in Indonesian, Ngapi in Burmese kapi (กะปิ) in Thai, Khemer and Lao languaga, belacan (also spelled belachan, blachang) in Malay, mắm tôm in Vietnamese, bagoong alamang (also known as bagoong aramang) in Filipino and hom ha/hae ko (POJ: hê-ko) in Min Nan Chinese. It is made from fermented ground shrimp, sun dried and then cut into fist-sized rectangular blocks. It is not designed, nor customarily used for immediate consumption and has to be fully cooked prior to consumption since it is raw. To many Westerners unfamiliar with this condiment, the smell can be extremely repulsive; however, it is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Shrimp paste can be found in most meals in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,Malaysia,Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is often an ingredient in dipping sauce for fish or vegetables.
Shrimp paste is not only made from shrimp. Small fish and small prawn can be used to make shrimp paste. Shrimp paste is made by mixing salt with either shrimp or fish or both. The mixture is
stored overnight and drained and sun dried. The dried mixture is ground and packed in an earthen container. The shrimp paste will sit for a few months before it is ready. The shrimp paste that you can find in an Oriental market comes in a plastic container. Scoop out the wax on top of the jar. I think the wax prevents the pungent smell from escaping. The paste should be dark deep purple almost brown in color. I like mine very dry.
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