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1
Heat the oil in a wok or heavy pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and fry, stirring, until it turns evenly golden and fragrant — the colour will shade from pale yellow to gold at the edges, so keep the heat steady and watch the edges of the pan where garlic scorches first. Pull it a shade before you think it is done, as it will continue to colour in the residual heat of the oil.
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2
Add the kapi and dried flaked fish, breaking the kapi into the oil with a spatula so it disperses evenly and fries rather than steams in a lump. This is where the dish lives or dies: fry for 3–4 minutes until the paste darkens to a deep reddish-brown and the raw ammonia note gives way to a roasted, concentrated seafood smell, because only at that point does the kapi shed its raw fermented sharpness and become a cohesive, deeply savoury mass that holds the whole relish together.
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3
Add the sliced long chillies and bird's eye chillies, stirring them through the darkened paste so they pick up its colour and savour rather than frying raw beside it. Cook briefly until the chillies soften and turn slightly translucent at the edges, which tells you their raw, grassy heat has moderated into something rounder without being cooked out entirely.
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4
Remove the pan from the heat, then season with fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar. Taste and balance all four registers — salt, sour, sweet, and the deep fermented savour of the kapi — adjusting each seasoning until none dominates.