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Thai · Thailand

Nam Prik Long Rua (Central Thai Relish with Dried Fish)

A cooked relish of dried shrimp paste (kapi), fresh chillies, garlic, and dried fish — fried together in oil until the components are cooked and caramelised, then seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar. Nam prik long rua ('relish that makes you miss the boat' — the name suggesting the relish is so compelling that diners stay eating it through their departure) is a central Thai household preparation, one of the cooked nam prik category (as distinct from the raw-pounded category of nam prik kapi,, and the roasted category of nam prik num).

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesFour portions
Within reach1of 5 in Salt Spring Island

One shipped · one elsewhere in British Columbia · three not yet within reach.

How the 5 are reached
Shipped to you
1 · palm sugar
Elsewhere in British Columbia
1 · neutral oil
Not yet within reach
3 · kapi (dried shrimp paste), long fresh chillies, bird's eye chillies
Cook
‹ Previous · Nam Prik Kapi (Roasted Shrimp Paste Relish)|Next · Nam Prik Num — Northern Green Pepper Relish / น้ำพริกหนุ่ม ›
I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

3 tbsp
4 cloves
garlic
minced
Your own market
1 tsp
kapi (dried shrimp paste)
Not yet within reach of Salt Spring Island · each reach is counted
30 g
dried small fish
grated or flaked
Your own market
3
long fresh chillies
sliced
Not yet within reach of Salt Spring Island · each reach is counted
5
bird's eye chillies
sliced
Not yet within reach of Salt Spring Island · each reach is counted
1 tbsp
fish sauce
Your own market
1 tbsp
lime juice
freshly squeezed
Your own market
1 tsp
palm sugar
shaved or grated
Origin · IndonesiaShipped to you · Wismettac →

Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.

The larder of Salt Spring Island →

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

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.
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.
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.
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.
From the canon — Fish sauce — nam pla — is the universal salt of the Thai kitchen. Fish Sauce (Nam Pla): Selection and Use →
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Hand-wrapped, sun-dried kapi from artisan producers in Rayong or Mahachai, with a clean, deep fermented note and no ammonia harshness; whole dried small fish of a single identified species, grated to order.
02
Estate — Good-quality packaged Thai kapi with a firm, dark paste; dried fish purchased whole from a specialist Thai or Southeast Asian grocer and flaked by hand before cooking.
03
Market — Standard Thai-brand kapi from an Asian supermarket; pre-flaked dried salted fish from the same source — functional results if the frying step is executed with care.
04
House — Any available shrimp paste and dried fish; the caramelisation step becomes still more critical to correct for lesser raw-material character.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. The kapi-and-fish mass has darkened to a reddish-brown and no longer looks wet or separated from the oil.
◇Smell. The raw, ammoniac note of the shrimp paste has been replaced by a roasted, concentrated seafood aroma.
◇Sight. The sliced chillies have lost their bright rigidity and are slightly translucent at the cut edges.
◇Where it lives or dies. The kapi and dried fish must be fried long enough to caramelise and lose their raw character entirely — undercook them and the relish remains harsh and unintegrated.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI

What to Pour

Pouring for British Columbia · ·

The pairing
Kiku-Masamune Kimoto Junmai
Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing · Nada
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Sake
From British Columbia
1897 Amber Ale
Stanley Park Brewing · Metro Vancouver
Stanley Park Brewing · Vancouver →
Beer
Without alcohol
Matcha — Culinary Grade Matcha
Aiya (AIYA SINCE 1888)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Tea

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
The working kitchen
Cost this recipe
Part of The Profession · ingredient costs and your margin
→
HACCP brief
Part of The Profession · the food-safety plan
→
Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Wismettac
Vancouver · palm sugar
→
Sechelt Farmers' & Artisans' Market (Sat)
Sechelt · neutral oil
→
← PreviousNam Prik Kapi (Roasted Shrimp Paste Relish)One standard · no exceptions