Nam Jim Polamai - Fruit dip
First make the "dressing"Ingredients:
2 T minced garlic
2 T kapi (shrimp paste)
2 T lime juice
2 T [palm] sugar
2 T fish sauce
Lightly fry the shrimp paste to bring out the aromas, and discard any
oil that is forced out by the heat. Mix the ingredients with half the
fish sauce in a food processor and taste add more fish sauce until it is
just salty enough for you.Variation: add [up to] 6 finely sliced red chillis.
Once you have your dressings, you are ready to make one of a number of
Thai dips.
1:) Nam Jim Mamuang
prepare one cup of shredded green (i.e. unripe) mango, and combine it
with the dressing.
Variation instead of shredding the mango just julienne it. If you use
the chilli variation of the dressing the result is a Som Dam Mamuang (an
Isan variant - the normal som dam is made with papaya).
2: Use a cup of coarsely chopped pineapple (nam jim sapparot).
3: Try a cup of any chopped fruit.
4: A variation my wife calls Nam Jim Luk Koei (kai luk koei is "son in
law eggs" and is done with fried hard boiled [quails] eggs in a
caramelised onion sauce). Take a cup of mixed "round things" -
mareschino cherries, cherry tomatoes, cocktail olives, hard boiled
quails eggs. Mix with the dressing[s] and serve on cocktail sticks.
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A variation my wife calls "devil's finger food"
take about 2 T of shrimp paste, and fry it. Mix in about 1 T of sliced
red chillis. Use this mixture to stuff pitted olives (instead of the
usual bland pimento) and serve it with a hot version of the chilli
dressing from above.
Caveat: Even I find this a little hot...
Special thanks to - Muoi Khuntilanont.