Shrimp paste3/30/2023 ![]() Somewhere in Malaysia, Ted and I and my cousin Martin went to a traditional roadside satay place, where satay is all they serve. Oh, and check under your fridge every now and then, just in case there's a stray egg rolling around. Use the real thing (easy to find in Asian markets or online here and here) to make really delicious Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai dishes, or this one from The Philippines, where shrimp paste is called bagoong. In fact, if you don't have shrimp paste, you can substitute anchovy paste (milder) or some anchovies mashed with a tiny bit of water. The amazing thing about shrimp paste, which is never eaten raw, is that once it's cooked, the flavor and odor mellow into a lovely background taste, much as anchovies melt into a sauce and provide a salty, nuanced undertone. The lid is important for keeping that strong smell out of your refrigerator this condiment can last almost indefinitely. It comes in slabs or blocks (usually labeled dried shrimp paste), or in a round jar with a tight-fitting lid. The thick paste that forms as the shrimp are broken down (fermented) by salt is then ground up into a smoother paste and sun dried. Called blachan, blacan, balachan, belacan, trassi, kapi or gapi, depending on country of origin and the whim of the transliteration, shrimp paste is made from fermented, tiny brine shrimp. When you first open the package, it smells like incredibly salty, old fish - which it is. Shrimp paste is one of those authentic condiments that makes the difference between "real" and "sort-of-like" cooking. ![]() When you taste a dish in a restaurant and then try to make it at home, substituting a little bit of this and that (regular soy for black soy, bell pepper for piquillo pepper), you wonder why the dish never tastes quite the same. This is true of Asian cooking, Mexican cooking - well, most cooking. ![]() In many cuisines, you simply cannot achieve an authentic taste unless you use authentic ingredients. Now, ask me why I keep anything that smells like this in my pantry. ![]() You go out to eat, and hope the odor dissipates before you get home. You wonder what type of creature has died in the wall. Don't ask.)Ī few days later, a foul smell begins to permeate the room, but you can't quite locate the source. A hard-boiled egg rolls under your refrigerator. ![]()
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