Shrimp paste

What is Shrimp paste?

Shrimp paste is an intensely aromatic condiment valued across East and Southeast Asia for its deep savoury punch. It is prepared from tiny prawns or krill preserved with salt. Depending on the locality, its consistency spans from runny pourable dressings to crumbly, dense slabs resembling dark chocolate. Cantonese and Vietnamese makers produce pale, pink-grey varieties, whereas Thai, Lao, Burmese, and Indonesian pastes tend toward deep brown or near-black shades. In the Philippines, the paste often shows a vivid pink or red hue. Uncooked paste has a famously sharp, pungent stench, though higher grades smell noticeably milder. Once heated or blended with other seasonings, the harsh aroma mellows into a rich, salty background flavour.

Where does Shrimp paste come from?

Historical accounts locate the beginnings of shrimp paste in mainland Southeast Asia, most likely created by Mon and Cham communities before travelling south across the islands. Old Sundanese records reveal that Javanese terasi was produced prior to the sixth century. The port settlement of Cirebon famously manufactured salt and shrimp paste as royal tribute for the Galuh kingdom. Early manuscripts record that the Chinese Muslim seafarer Zheng He purchased Cirebon terasi during his voyages, bringing it back to Yunnan and inspiring Chinese imitations. Western visitors regularly noted the ingredient in their travel journals. French envoy Simon de La Loubère wrote about Siamese kapi in 1687, while English navigator William Dampier documented pickled Javanese trassi stored in earthenware jars in 1707.

How is Shrimp paste made?

Producers crush freshly harvested tiny marine shrimp or krill and blend the seafood thoroughly with salt. This mixture is left to ferment for weeks. In sunnier coastal regions, processors spread the mashed crustacean paste out in the open air to dry under the sun. Depending on the tradition, makers may leave the cured paste soft and moist, or dry and compress it firmly into hard rectangular bricks. For Malaysian belacan, the tiny crustaceans are often steamed prior to mashing, aged for several months, and finally fried and compressed into dense blocks. Certain styles preserve the small shrimp whole, while others pound the catch into a completely smooth, uniform puree.

How and when is Shrimp paste eaten?

Cooks rarely eat raw, unworked shrimp paste by itself. Instead, it serves as an indispensable seasoning base for cooked meals, table dips, and fiery sambals. A tiny amount dissolved into hot oil provides the savoury backbone for curries and stir-fried greens or meat. Across Southeast Asia, it forms spicy table sauces when blended with fresh lime juice, crushed chillies, garlic, and palm sugar. Diners use these zesty dips for fried fish, boiled meats, and raw vegetables. In the Philippines, sautéed paste garnishes rich peanut stews or green mangoes, while in Myanmar, a brothy ngapi dip acts as a daily protein source served beside fresh garden produce.

Kinds of Shrimp paste

Regional traditions vary in ingredients, thickness, and hue. Hong Kong produces finely ground haam ha for Cantonese wok cooking. Filipino bagoóng alamáng retains whole, chunky shrimp and occasionally incorporates red yeast rice for colour. In East Java, petis udang is created by boiling down shrimp processing broth with molasses, yielding a sweet, pitch-black syrup used in vegetable salads and noodle dishes. Thai kapi forms the foundation of nam phrik dips, sometimes infused with pounded water bugs or sour tamarind. In Goa, balchao combines baby prawns with chillies and vinegar, a sour pickle style brought from Macau.

What Shrimp paste means

Shrimp paste holds an enduring place in daily dining throughout the coastal nations of Asia. In ancient Java, entire wars were sparked when coastal vassals failed to send their customary shipments of shrimp paste and salt to inland rulers. European travellers visiting maritime Southeast Asia in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries often recorded their shock at its overpowering stench, with some initially mistaking the kitchen staple for poison. Despite foreign bewilderment, the pungent ferment remains a proud marker of regional identity, indispensable to everyday home cooking and exported by coastal communities across global diaspora networks.

Questions people ask about Shrimp paste

Good reading and sources

• Shrimp paste on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos
• Wikidata recordOpen data