Cooked sriracha-style garlic-chilli sauce
Ripe red chillies, garlic, labelled 5% vinegar, sugar, water and salt are blended, simmered and blended smooth into a cooked chilli sauce.
Nam prik kapi
น้ำพริกกะปิ (nam phrik kapi) · nam phrik kapi · Thai shrimp paste dip
Nam prik kapi is a Thai dip of matured shrimp paste pounded with garlic, bird's eye chilli and lime or tamarind, eaten with vegetables and rice.
A dip built on shrimp paste
Nam prik kapi (Thai: น้ำพริกกะปิ) is one of the best-known Thai nam prik, the chilli relishes served in small saucers beside a meal. Its base is kapi, a fermented shrimp paste. The Japanese research centre JIRCAS describes the dip as kapi mixed with garlic, bird's eye chilli and lime juice or tamarind, with the exact ingredients depending on local practice and taste. The central Thai type is also described with pea eggplant.
It is eaten with vegetables and rice. In central Thailand a typical partner is fried pla thu, the short mackerel, which gives a hot, sour, salty paste something plain and rich to lean on.
Sources for this section
The ferment is the paste, not the dip
All of the fermentation happens before the dip is made. Kapi is made from small saltwater or brackish-water shrimp mixed with salt, dried in the sun, pounded to a sticky paste and packed into jars or vats, where it ferments for at least four months with low salt or six months with high salt. JIRCAS gives a shelf life of 12 to 18 months for the paste.
The dip simply mixes that matured paste with fresh garlic, chilli and a souring ingredient, so it adds no fermentation stage of its own. The lime or tamarind lifts the paste's heavy savoury, shrimp flavour, and the chilli and garlic add heat. The paste's long shelf life belongs to the paste: there is no evidence that a dip with fresh ingredients keeps as long, so a freshly mixed dip should be treated as a fresh preparation.
Sources for this section
Nam prik kapi cha-karm in Samut Songkhram
A study in Samut Songkhram Province documents a local variant called nam prik kapi cha-karm. It uses shrimp paste from Khlong Khon, leaves of cha-karm (sea blite, Suaeda maritima) grown locally, and coconut milk. Researchers interviewed experts and residents in three sub-districts and surveyed how people ate it. They found the dish popular among middle-aged people and handed down in families over several generations.
It is served with blanched cha-karm leaves and coconut milk, and sometimes with fried mackerel or fried eggs. The study documents a local tradition. It is not a national standard for nam prik kapi, and its abstract gives no full recipe or storage test.
Related preparations and what is missing
JIRCAS names a close relative, kapi-kua, a spicy paste pounded from kapi with chilli, galangal, lemongrass, shallots, garlic and kaffir lime peel and used to make soups. Kapi is also cooked into fried rice. Both are separate preparations from the dip.
Neither source gives quantities, an order of work, a yield or a date, so nothing here fixes a standard recipe or an origin.
History
No cited source dates nam prik kapi. The cha-karm variant is described as passed down through several generations of families in Samut Songkhram, and the study found it popular among middle-aged people.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Shrimp paste (kapi)Matured shrimp paste, used as bought or made separately.
Amount not stated.
Garlic
Amount not stated.
Bird's eye chilli
Amount not stated.
Amount not stated
Used for sourness; tamarind is the alternative the source names. Amount not stated.Tamarind (optional)
Amount not stated
Alternative to lime juice. Amount not stated.Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Storage of a freshly mixed condiment
The dip adds fresh garlic, chilli and lime to the paste. Nothing shows that it keeps as long as the matured paste does.
Hazard sourceTreat the mixed dip as a fresh preparation; no tested storage limit exists.
Control sourceThe shrimp paste is shellfish and an allergen. The keeping qualities of matured paste do not transfer to a freshly mixed dip, and smell or taste does not show that the dip is safe.
- Mix the shrimp paste with garlic, bird's eye chilli and lime juice or tamarind. The ingredients vary with local practice and taste, and no quantities or order of work are given.
- Serve the dip with vegetables and rice. In central Thailand it is eaten with fried short mackerel (pla thu).
- For the Samut Songkhram variant, serve it with blanched cha-karm (sea blite) leaves and coconut milk, and optionally fried mackerel or fried eggs.
Places
Central Thailand
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceA general encyclopedia entry places the dip in central Thailand; no date or exact origin is given.
Samut Songkhram
Documented preparation · Region evidenceA field study of the cha-karm variant in the Khlong Khon, Khao Yi San and Phra Nam Daeng sub-districts; it documents a local variant, not the origin of the dip.
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Sources
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural SciencesMethod · Uses · Safety
Database of Fermented Foods of Thailand: Ka-piNam prik kapi is kapi mixed with garlic, bird's eye chilli and lime juice or tamarind; ingredients vary with local practice and taste; no steps or quantities are given.
It is used as a dip for vegetables, eaten with rice.
Kapi is made from small saltwater or brackish-water shrimp and salt, sun-dried, pounded and fermented for at least four months (low salt) or six months (high salt).
Kapi-kua, a chilli paste pounded from kapi, is a related preparation used for soups.
Cited in: A dip built on shrimp paste; The ferment is the paste, not the dip; Related preparations and what is missing
Journal of Thai Food Culture, Suan Dusit School of Culinary ArtsVariations · Uses
The Study on The Local Wisdom of Food: Nam Prik Kapi Cha-Karm (Suaeda maritima) in Samut SongKharm ProvinceNam prik kapi cha-karm is a local variant made with Khlong Khon shrimp paste, locally grown cha-karm (Suaeda maritima) leaves and coconut milk.
Study by interview and questionnaire in Khlong Khon, Khao Yi San and Phra Nam Daeng sub-districts of Samut Songkhram; the dish is popular among middle-aged people and has been handed down through generations.
Served with blanched cha-karm, coconut milk and sometimes fried mackerel or fried eggs.
Cited in: Nam prik kapi cha-karm in Samut Songkhram; Related preparations and what is missing
WikipediaContext
Nam phrikNam phrik is a family of Thai chilli sauces served in small saucers beside the main dish as a dip or condiment.
Nam phrik kapi is the central Thai type made with shrimp paste, lime, chillies and often pea eggplant, eaten with fried pla thu and vegetables.
Cited in: A dip built on shrimp paste