Malaysian•gourmet

Thai Roasted Chilli Paste (Nam Prik Pao)

Kitchen Misadventures recipe - Malaysian

Ingredients

20 g dried red chili ($0.20)
45 g shallots (sliced) ($0.093)
35 g garlic (sliced) ($0.245)
15 g dried shrimp ($0.48)
10 g belacan ($0.067)
90 g palm sugar ($0.753)
2 tbsp tamarind juice ($0.095)
2 tbsp fish sauce ($0.068)
60 ml oil ($0.468)
water (as needed)

1
Toast belacan (shrimp paste) over a strip of aluminium foil in a pan until crumbly. This should take around 3 minutes. The aluminium foil helps to prevent the belacan from burning easily and also prevents the pan from absorbing the pungent odour of the belacan. Remove and set aside.
2
Add dried chilies into pan and toast until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the chilies. Remove and set aside.
3
Add 60ml of oil to the pan and toast the dried shrimps till fragrant. Remove and set aside.
4
Add garlic into the pan and fry till golden brown. Remove and set aside.
5
Add shallots into the pan and fry till golden brown. Remove and set aside. Leave the oil in the pan.
6
Add the chilies, belacan, dried shrimps, garlic, shallots, palm sugar, tamarind juice and fish sauce into a blender and blend into a fine paste. You can add just a little bit of water if needed.
7
Add chili paste into pan and fry over medium-high heat for around 7-10 minutes until paste darkens. Remove from pan and store upon cooling.