Recipes

Thai Roasted Chili Sauce

Nam Prik Pao

A smoky, sweet roasted chili paste made from two kinds of chili, shallot, garlic, and shrimp paste

Prep

30 min

Cook

15 min

Serves

4

Heat

medium

Nam Prik Pao is a labor of love, requiring two kinds of chili roasted separately, shallots and garlic charred in their skins, and shrimp paste toasted until dry and crumbling before anything even gets ground together. Despite the fiery reputation the name might suggest, "pao" actually just means roasted, and a well-made batch should taste sweet from tamarind and coconut sugar first, with the smoky, herbaceous, and spicy notes arriving as a supporting cast rather than overwhelming heat. It's the paste responsible for Tom Yum Goong's signature orange color and smoky depth, and a jar kept on hand becomes a flavoring ingredient for far more than just simple table use.

Ingredients

• 10-12 Sun-dried Thai chilies
• 20-25 Sun-dried Thai hot chilies
• 4-5 Red shallots (unpeeled, for roasting)
• 3-4 Garlic, large cloves (unpeeled, for roasting)
• 1/2 tablespoon Thai shrimp paste
• 1 tablespoon Tamarind fruit
• 1/2 tablespoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons Fish sauce
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil

Directions

1. Heat a large dry wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat until quite hot.
2. Spread the large chilies in the pan so they get direct heat. Let them crackle and pop, browning and charring about a quarter of the way, which is what gives the paste its smoky flavor. Remove and set aside. Wipe the pan and repeat with the small hot chilies.
3. Add the unpeeled shallots and garlic to the hot pan. Cook for a few minutes until they soften slightly inside and the skins char a little. Remove and let cool. Wipe out the pan.
4. Flatten the shrimp paste into a small pancake shape and cook it on a piece of folded foil in the pan for a couple of minutes, until dry, crumbling, and a little browned.
5. Once cool enough to handle, peel the burned skins from the shallots and garlic. Grind the two types of chili separately (seeds intact, not too fine) until you have about 1/2 cup of each.
6. Using a mortar and pestle, mash the shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and tamarind together until smooth and creamy.
7. Add the ground chilies and salt, and pound until everything is evenly blended into a consistent paste. Roll into a ball if not cooking right away — this raw paste keeps well refrigerated for later use.
8. Heat the vegetable oil in a shallow pan over low to medium heat. Break up the raw paste and add it to the oil, pushing and mashing until it loosens into a thin, oily paste.
9. Let it get hot, then reduce heat and fry slowly for about 5 minutes to soften all the bits of chili.
10. Add the fish sauce, water, and coconut sugar. Stir well, let it heat back up, then cook slowly, stirring often, until the sugar fully melts, keeping the heat low so it just bubbles gently.
11. Once the sugar is fully melted, cook a couple minutes more, then remove from heat and let cool. The finished paste should be thin and oily, with the oil sitting visibly on top.
12. Pour into a bowl to cool completely, then transfer to a jar. Keeps refrigerated for several months. Always serve at room temperature so it stays soft and oily.

Notes

Judge doneness by roasting the chilies to about a quarter charred, not fully blackened — that level of char delivers smoky flavor without turning the finished paste bitter.

Substitutions

This paste keeps well and is worth making in a larger batch, since it's used as a flavoring ingredient across many other Thai dishes beyond its role as a simple condiment.