Nam Prik Pao (Thai roasted chili paste)
My mother and her sisters made this outside most of the time. The smell of the chilies roasting found you before you saw the pan. They made it whenever they wanted to add heat to something — to a soup, to rice, to whatever was already on the table. The finished paste was always smooth. That was the goal. They always reached it. This is that paste.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried red chilies deseeded and soaked
- 1/2 cup shallots chopped
- 1/4 cup garlic minced
- 1/4 cup shrimp paste
- 1/2 cup palm sugar grated
- 1/4 cup tamarind paste
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Prepare the Chilies: Begin by draining the soaked red chilies, ensuring they are thoroughly dried. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat and dry-roast the chilies until they become fragrant, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Roast Shallots and Garlic: In the same pan used for the chilies, dry-roast the chopped shallots and minced garlic until they turn golden brown and emit a rich, aromatic fragrance. This step enhances their natural sweetness and depth of flavor. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Combine Ingredients: Transfer the cooled roasted chilies, shallots, and garlic into a food processor or blender. Add shrimp paste to the mixture. Blend on high until a smooth paste forms, scraping down the sides as needed to ensure even blending.
- Cook the Paste: Heat vegetable oil in a clean pan over medium heat. Add the blended chili paste mixture and fry until it becomes aromatic, stirring constantly to prevent burning. This step helps release the flavors and aromas of the ingredients.
- Add Seasonings: Once the paste is fragrant, stir in grated palm sugar, tamarind paste, and fish sauce. Allow the mixture to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until it thickens to a paste-like consistency. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Cool and Store: Remove the pan from heat and let the Nam Prik Pao paste cool to room temperature. Transfer it into sterilized jars or airtight containers, ensuring they are tightly sealed. Refrigerate the paste to maintain its freshness and flavors for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
The roasting is where everything begins and where most home cooks underdo it. The chilies should be genuinely charred at the edges — not just darkened, charred. The garlic and shallots should be deeply colored on the cut side, soft all the way through, with a sweetness that raw garlic does not have. Underdone roasting produces a paste that tastes of raw dried chili rather than roasted dried chili — sharp and one-dimensional rather than smoky and complex. Give the roasting stage the time it needs. The mortar will do the rest.
The soaking step after roasting is not optional. A roasted dried chili that goes directly into the mortar without soaking will not grind smooth — it will leave threads of chili skin through the paste no matter how long you work it. Soak until fully soft. Drain well. Then grind.
The palm sugar is not decorative. Nam Prik Pao is a paste that holds four flavors in balance — smoky heat, sourness from the tamarind, sweetness from the palm sugar, and salt from the fish sauce. Remove the sugar and the paste tilts toward sharp and one-note. Start with one tablespoon and taste before adding the second. The balance is correct when no single flavor is louder than the others.
The paste keeps for one month in the refrigerator. It keeps for three months in the freezer. Make a full batch. The work is the same whether you are making a small amount or a large one, and a jar of Nam Prik Pao in the refrigerator changes what you can do with a weeknight dinner. Stir a spoonful into Tom Yum. Toss it through stir-fried vegetables. Spread it on rice with a fried egg on top. My mother made it to have it. That was always the reason.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tbsCalories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 0.5gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 0.5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2.3gSodium: 300mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!