Nam Prik Kapi (Roasted Shrimp Paste Relish)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp shrimp paste (kapi), wrapped in foil, roasted until fragrant and slightly caramelised — 3 minutes per side
• 4–6 large garlic cloves, unpeeled, charred directly over a gas flame or under a very hot grill until exterior is black and interior soft
• 3–4 shallots, unpeeled, charred alongside the garlic
• 5–10 fresh bird's eye chillies (prik kee nuu), quantity adjusted to desired heat
• 45 ml lime juice, from 2–3 limes; reserve a little for service
• 1 tbsp palm sugar, dissolved
• 1 pinch salt
• to taste fish sauce
• To serve
• 1 whole fried mackerel or fried salted fish, whole, fried
• as required raw cucumber
• as required wing beans, blanched
• as required long beans, raw
• as required fresh eggplant, halved, raw
• as required white cabbage, steamed
• as required steamed white rice

Method

1. 1
   Wrap the kapi in foil and roast under a hot grill or in a dry pan for 3 minutes per side, so the heat drives off the raw ammonia edge and coaxes a deep, caramelised fragrance from within the paste. The paste is ready when it smells caramelised and deeply fragrant — not raw-sharp, not scorched. Set aside.
2. 2
   Hold the unpeeled garlic cloves and shallots in tongs directly over a gas flame, or arrange them under a very hot grill, keeping the skins on so the interior steams and sweetens in its own moisture rather than drying out. Char until the outer skin is black and the interior yields when pressed — soft, sweet, and caramelised within. Discard the charred skins.
3. 3
   Pound the peeled charred garlic, charred shallots, and fresh chillies in a mortar with a pinch of salt, working in a steady circular-and-press motion so the salt helps break the fibres and binds the mass rather than letting it skid around the bowl. The mass should hold together — not be a liquid.
4. 4
   Add the roasted kapi and pound to integrate fully, so the oils of the paste bind with the crushed aromatics rather than sitting in separate pockets. The paste should remain coarse — a rough, slightly sticky texture, not a smooth sauce, because that texture is part of the identity of this relish.
5. 5
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Season with fish sauce, lime juice, and dissolved palm sugar, tasting carefully across all four registers in sequence: the first second delivers lime and fish sauce — sharp and salty; the second and third seconds bring the palm sugar rounding into the mid-palate; the caramel depth of the charred garlic follows; the chilli's heat builds and sustains at the back. The roasted shrimp paste operates throughout as an amplifying base-note, deepening the perception of every other flavour without asserting itself directly — adjust each register, more lime for acidity, fish sauce for salt, palm sugar to round, additional chilli for heat, until the progression is correct.
6. 6
   Transfer to a serving bowl, then add a small measure of fresh lime juice immediately before service so the volatile top note — bright and sharp — is not lost to the time it took to plate and carry. Arrange the relish at the centre of the table, surrounded by the vegetable plate and fried fish, with steamed white rice alongside.