Vietnamese Shrimp Paste

This Vietnamese shrimp paste – mắm tôm – is made from fermented ground dried shrimps and salt. A very small amount of Vietnamese shrimp paste is used in cooking to give a great depth of umami flavour. Shrimp paste varies from country to country in South East Asia – this variety is very finely ground, and a little bit liquid. And this one is particularly pungent – a little goes a very long way!

Add Vietnamese shrimp paste to spice pastes, or sambals – the chilli based sauce used widely in Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia and the Phillipines. Sambal goreng (shrimp paste with onions, garlic, dried chillies and tamarind) is known as the ‘master sauce’ in Malaysian and Singaporean kitchens, and is used in salads, stir-fried noodles and rice dishes. Shrimp paste is similarly used in Vietnam.

Ingredients: Ground small shrimp (75%), salt (24.9%), E202 (0.1%) Contains crustaceans.