Nam Prik Kapi (Thai Shrimp Paste Chile Sauce)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons shrimp paste
4 cloves garlic
5-6 dried shrimp
5-7 fresh Thai chile peppers
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2-3 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon tiny Thai eggplant

Method

In a mortar and pestle, pound dried shrimp into a coarse powder, remove from mortar and set aside. Place shrimp paste and garlic in mortar, mash and grind together then add the dried shrimp back into the mortar. Add Thai chile peppers and eggplant (leaving a few eggplant aside for later). Pound the mixture together, adding palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce to suit your taste. Spoon it into a dish and add a few eggplants for visual appeal, it should look like this.

This can be served in a wide variety of ways. Spoon over fresh steamed jasmine rice, or use as a dipping sauce for fresh or boiled vegetables such as cucumber, string bean, cabbage or bamboo shoot. It's also a wonderful accompaniment to Lao style vegetable curry. In Thailand this is very popular to eat with fried mackerel fish (pla tu).

Goong Pad Priew Wan (Thai Sweet and Sour Shrimps)

Ingredients :

150         grams                     peeled shrimps
50           grams                     diced cucumbers
30           grams                     tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
40           gram                      pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces
30           grams                     diced onions
10           grams                     spring onions cut into inch-long length
10           grams                     chopped garlic
1/4            cup                         stock
2              tablespoons          vegetable oil for frying
1              tablespoon            fish sauce
1/2            tablespoon            sugar
3              tablespoons          tomato ketchup


Directions :

1. Fry the shrimp quickly and set aside.

2. Fry the pineapple, cucumber, tomato and onion and set aside.

3. Mix the seasoning; tomato ketchup, sugar, fish sauce and stock, well.

4. Heat the oil. Fry the garlic until it becomes aromatic. Add the vegetables, shrimps and half of the spring onions and stir-fry.

5. Serve on a plate. Garnish with the rest of the spring onions.


Tips :
- Stir-fry the vegetables only briefly to maintain their crispiness.