APASRA SPICES IT UP
Why Thais love their shrimp paste BRUNCH
Last week I wrote the story of one of the 12 boys and their coach from the Wild Boars football team who said he just wanted to eat some pad kaprao, the Thai basil stir-fried dish, after their Tham Luang cave ordeal between June 23 and July 10 in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district. I told readers about how quickly the dish can be made, and its popularity among Thais.
This week I have another tale to offer which is connected to the news. Many older people may remember when Apasra Hongsakula was freshly crowned the 14th Miss Universe winner.
It was Thailand’s first win, back in 1965. When asked by MC what she liked to eat the most when she arrived in Thailand, she said spicy shrimp paste relish ( nam prik kapi) with fried mackerel ( pla thu thod).
After Apasra had won the Miss Universe that year, Thailand continued sending Thai women to attend the world beauty contest. The first question they were asked was what kind of Thai food they would recommend to foreigners.
Many said proudly they wanted to recommend the two dishes named by Apasra, despite the fact the dishes are on the pungent side.
They were right of course. Because nam prik kapi, which is normally served with pla thu thod, is the most famous of all the Thai chilli sauces. It is truly authentic and popular among Thais.
I am writing about nam prik kapi as I just want to show readers that it is just one of Thai chilli sauces popular among Thais in every house, every community and every region.
You can say that chilli sauce (nam prik) is one of Thailand’s national dishes. Nam prik is normally served with various vegetables no matter whether you cook them or not. You can perhaps cook the vegetables with water or coconut milk or you can make pickled veggies.
You can eat nam prik with fried, grilled and boiled fish. Furthermore, you can eat the dish with other Thai dishes such as Thai curry, Thai soup and tom yam.
There are so many different kinds of nam prik in Thailand, varying in accordance with time and region and mirroring the culinary preference of each region and even each era.
Even though nam prik is basically salty and spicy, it still has different levels of saltiness and spiciness in each area depending on the availability of ingredients and raw materials.
For example, we put salt and young chilli in northern-style nam prik while we put fermented fish sauce and dried chilli in northeastern-style nam prik.
As for making nam prik in the Central Plains and the South, a wide variety of raw materials is needed. Their nam prik is basically spicy, sour, salty and sweet. Furthermore, the cooking ware and tools essential to make nam prik in each region are different.
In the North and Northeast, if you notice the texture of nam prik in those two regions, you will see that its texture is still fairly thick as we use wooden mortar and pestle which are lighter than a stone mortar to pound everything together to make nam prik.
Whereas if you notice the texture of nam prik in the Central Plains and the South, you will find that its texture is more soft and smooth as we use a stone mortar and pestle to pound everything together to make spin-offs such as grilled fish chilli paste ( nam prik pla yang), dried shrimp chilli paste ( nam prik goong hang) and dried chilli paste ( nam prik hang).
I think that I have already told you why nam prik is so popular among Thais and why it is so important in Thai society. Now it is time for me to tell you how to cook nam prik in each region.
In the North, I’m certain many people know nam prik num.
Its ingredients consist of fresh green or yellow chillies or long green aubergines, shallots and garlic.
We have to roast the chillies, garlic and whole shallots until the vegetables are soft or the skins just start to turn back. Then we cut off the skin of the chillies and discard the seeds to make it less spicy if desired.
After that we finely chop chillies and shallots, putting a bit salt and pounding together before transferring to a bowl. Nam prik num is only spicy and salty. It has a fragrance drawn from roasted vegetables. Normally we eat it with rice and boiled eggs.
In the Northeast, we pound dried chillies, shallots, roasted garlic and salt together to make nam prik. It is called nam prik hang.
But if you want to make its texture look more soft and smooth, you can put in some fermented fish sauce and roasted and pounded sticky rice ( khao khua).
Northeasterners like eating nam prik with fresh vegetables and sticky rice. Sometimes steamed fish is served with varieties of steamed vegetables as well.
As for making nam prik in the Central Plains and the South, a wide variety of raw materials and ingredients comprising chilli, garlic, shrimp paste (kapi), lemon, fish sauce, and sugar. Nam prik in these two regions is normally spicy, sour, salty and sweet. Raw mangoes, tamarines, santol, and madagascar are normally added to bring out a sour note in nam prik.
Apart from those fruits and vegetables, some insects such as giant water bugs are put in nam prik in the regions, which can make it smell. But not everyone likes this dish.
These are just examples of how nam prik is made. Nam prik has been a popular dish among Thais a long time and is considered a healthy Thai food which these days is only adding to its popularity.