INTRODUCTION (5)

SAUCE AND CURRY PASTE

Fermented soybeans, tao jiao, เต้าเจึ้ยว, is a brew of soybeans and salt.

Curry powder, phong hari, ผงกระหรี่, is a prepared mixture of spices such as tumeric, coriander seed, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mustard, caedamon, cumin, chili and salt. Each brand has its own charactter depending on the ingredients used.

Shrimp paste, ka-pi, กะปิ, is shrimp which are salted, perhaps brewed for a time, allowed to dry in the sun, then ground and worked with the addition of moisture into a fine textured puce paste, which is fragrant and slightiy salty.

Roasted chilli sauce, nam phrik phao, น้ำพริกเผา, is a mixture of chillies, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp, and palm sugar which is stir-fried until fragrant. It can be bought in markets and supermarkets or can be made at home. It can be spresd on bread, mixed with rice, or used as a dip for vegetables.

Chilli sauce, sot phirk, ซอสพริก, or sot siracha, ซอสศรีราชา, is a prepared sauce something like tobasco sauce and is available in serveral degrees of hotness.