Shrimp Paste
Shrimp paste is an essential element of South-East Asian cuisines and an excellent way to utilize the millions of krill that flood the seas
Shrimp paste is a fermented product that is made up of small prawns or krill and salt. When dried in the sun, the animal proteins break down and new flavor components are created, among which the umami flavor stands out, which perfectly complements the bland taste of white rice, a staple in the area's gastronomy.
It is believed to have been created in the Indochina peninsula, or Mekong River Basin, by the Cham, the Mon, and the Khmer. These people had emigrated from southern China, where fish sauce already existed, and had colonized the present-day territories of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Being rice growers, they spread to areas where irrigated rice fields could perform better which were areas where the abundance of fish and shellfish was seasonal, so they had to find ways to preserve it for times of scarcity. The Mekong Valley is also an area rich in salt accumulated in sandstone layers that can be harvested during the dry season, when salt that had been dissolved in the water during the rainy months rises to the surface in the heat of the sun.
The accumulated knowledge about the fermentation processes in southern China, the abundance of fish and shellfish, and the availability of salt made this area ideal for developing products such as shrimp paste. Thanks to trade, shrimp paste spread throughout South-East Asia, reaching Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar... In each of these places it is known by a different name and sometimes larger or smaller shrimp are used, or even some kind of active ferment like yeast, thus giving it various colors that go from dark brown, violet to Indonesian red.
The production continues to be local, unlike what happens with fish sauce, that has been taken by large companies and they produce thousands of jars a day. When I was in Nakhon Songkran, west of Bangkok, I asked a local fisherman to show me the process of making shrimp paste. My husband Ross and I wanted to get a closer look at how the paste that all Thais love and eat almost every day is made. While we were in a cafeteria having an iced tea trying to escape the heat we asked the waitress if she could help us in our search. She picked up the phone and 20 minutes later a man appeared and told us he could take us in his boat through the mangroves.
It was noon and the day was cloudy, although it was not raining. It is not an area with strong tourism, so we passed a couple of boats with people taking photos and enjoying the breeze and we continued towards the sea, leaving everything behind. The gray of the sky turned to a murky brown as it touched the silted water. “It is the perfect place to catch cockles and other shells” the fisherman told us. The delta was fenced off on either side by poles that defined the boundaries of each farm. There oysters, mussels, cockles and scallops were collected. The occasional inopportune guest also took advantage of these delicacies. Birds, small mammals and monkeys live in the mangroves, which, showing off their intelligence (and hunger), have learned to swim to reach shells or fish.
The landscape became even more fascinating when we stopped next to a small boat with a lady taking buckets in and out of the water. It was the fisherman's mother and she was collecting krill. He told us that we had arrived at a good time because it was time to pick up. Very early in the morning the nets are left so that these tiny prawns accumulate and thus at noon they can be harvested.
The woman was well covered to protect herself from the sun. He filled the buckets with mastery, passing the water full of krill to a net that filtered it and filled it with all the shellfish. She told us that in this season she does this every day, but in fact it is not a very long period because during a large part of the year the waters are low and it is not possible to navigate. The expert hands continued to do their work while she looked up from time to time to smile at us, surprised that foreigners were asking her questions in Thai and taking an interest in her life. "No one stops. Tourists take the boats to see the mangroves and go for a walk, but no one is ever interested in this. People eat kapi every day, but they don't know how it is made."
When she had all the shellfish in the pot, she added salt and mixed it with sea water. To make shrimp paste, you do not need as much salt as for fish sauce, as the water will eventually evaporate and the fermentation itself will increase the saltiness of the paste.
We continue passing through artificial channels created by the boundaries of the farms. Apart from the occasional boat and the vision of the monkeys, it seemed like a deserted place, an immovable landscape. But it was not so, life emerged from under the water to feed monkeys, birds and humans.
On the way back we stopped at the fisherman's house. His mother had arrived earlier and had left the pot full of krill at the entrance. After a whole morning of work, she had only gotten 3kg of krill. Just next to the private jetty, three tarpaulins were spread out on wooden platforms and a purple layer was glistening in the sun on top. That paste was three days old and would then be stored in closed jars in a warm place for further fermentation. When the krill proteins have been broken and the paste becomes dark and homogeneous, it can be consumed. There are families that let it ferment longer in order to obtain a more intense and salty paste.
From time to time the jars are opened and the liquid that appears on the surface is stirred. That liquid can be served as a shrimp sauce and if you add a little more fermented shrimp paste you get yet another product.
Normally shrimp paste is known by its place of production since the different families in the area that are dedicated to it usually make it in a similar way and with the same type of shrimp. Each family packages their paste and puts their name and the place of production on the package to later sell it in nearby markets. Shrimp paste has a very long shelf life and if stored in the fridge it can be consumed whenever desired.
In Thailand it is a fundamental part of the diet. They are stir-fries with it, it can be cooked with khaw pad (fried rice), it is an indisputable part of all curry pastes, and it is part of many dipping sauces, such as nam prik kapi, which is eaten alongside fried fish or vegetables.
This fermented paste is one of the most distinctive flavors of South-East Asia, and although its smell can cause rejection, its flavor dissolves with the other ingredients creating a perfect harmony.