Shrimp Paste

[stevopistolero]

I made a delicious thai curry (technically a "lam") with coconut cream, lemongrass, ginger, brown sugar, garlic, fish sauce and this funky shrimp paste. I also simmered some bok choy in coconut milk. Surpisingly, the sweet yummy goodness in curry comes more from the ginger and lemon grass. Coconut milk by itself has texture and a sort of taste I

Comments

[wordweaverlynn]

I cannot help you with the fish paste, but your icon makes me very happy.

[ankie]

the image seems very familiar to me, but I can't remember where I know it from. Care to enlighten me? :)

[wordweaverlynn]

It's a symbol of socialism.

[ankie]

Thought so :) My mother was/is very big with her local socialist movement, so I probably saw flyers lying around with that symbol. The dutch socialist party (PvdA) has a nice symbol of a stylized rose with a fist in the middle.
Just wondered if it had a different meaning to other people :)

[j3nii_]

shrimp paste is really a delicacy for the wayyy south east asia, commonly found in vietnamese & thai cuisine.

i know what you mean with the smell.
i'm a second generation viet and my parents like to remind me of my roots once in a while.
i can't stomach the thing unless it's really just a faint seasoning.

my mum tells me it's a pain to make the stuff, though but if you ever get the chance to go overseas and buy it, you should cos it's alot better than the stuff you find in asian grocery stores.

:) it really does add a difference in your food, though. subtle, but it's there.

[product_junkie]

You could use it in som tum, a fresh-n-tasty green papaya salad. I guess the Thai version of this dish usually takes small whole dried shrimp, but I've seen versions of the recipe that use shrimp paste instead.

[andresk]

The first time I had the shrimp paste,I think it's called it blachan (spelling), it was use for saute water spinach. I think it would be great for saute any dish, but remember they smell ten time more when you saute in oil and your kitchen will smell like it for a long time.

[aleph_zahir]

I almost passed out when I used shrimp paste, the smell was so strong! I couldn't get the smell out of my apartment for hours afterward. It definitely lent a more "authentic," complex flavor to the dish I made (Massamun Curry from the Tigers & Strawberries blog), but I don't know if I'll cook with it again... the smell is too unbearable.