Despite its name, jungle relish has nothing to do with wild animals or exotic ingredients foraged from a tropical forest. Made up from the most basic ingredients, this relish was described in Favorite Dishes, written by Princess Jongjittanom Dissakul (อาหารของโปรด ของหม่อมเจ้าจงจิตรถนอม ดิศกุล) and, in fact, is quite similar to another recipe, gabpi phlaa (กะปิพล่า), found in the book.
Both jungle relish and gabpi phlaa are prepared by mixing the ingredients in a bowl without “killing” the fermented shrimp paste (kapi); the “killing” refers to the mellowing of the kapi’s smell when it is pounded with garlic using a mortar and pestle. The Southern-style relishes naam phrik jo:hn (น้ำพริกโจร) and naam choop yam (น้ำชุบหยำ) are also prepared by mixing; however, unlike the Southern relishes, the jungle chili relish contains bitter orange.
Perhaps serving the fermented shrimp paste with its aroma undisguised – skipping the pounding and the subsequent “killing” of its smell with garlic – produced a rough and rustic-looking dish; hence the aristocracy-coined name, ‘jungle relish’.
Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj, a food guru and scholar, as well as a former prime minister of Thailand, presented the same recipe as Princess Dissakul did for jungle relish, in his book dedicated to chili relishes. Other versions of the relish exist though, notably that of Princess Jancharoensiri Ratchanee (หม่อมเจ้าจันทร์เจริญศิริ รัชนี จ.จ.ร.), which deployed roasted dried chilies and dried lizard meat, a once-common ingredient. The National Council of Women of Thailand published another version that added hairy-fruited eggplants (มะอึก) and salacca.
Grill the shrimp and shred its meat into thin threads.
Measure the amount of fermented shrimp paste (kapi) and palm sugar, following the ratios of a basic chili relish recipe (น้ำพริกกะปิมาตรฐาน). Arrange the ingredients next to each other so you can visualize their proportions.
In a bowl, mix all the fermented shrimp paste (kapi) and grilled shrimp meat.
Taste and season with salt and fish sauce. Once you are satisfied with the saltiness of the relish, add the palm sugar at the ratio indicated. Season to a sweet-salty flavor profile.
Season with a sour leading flavor profile using lime juice.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
Keyword chili relish, naam phrik, nam prik (น้ำพริก)
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Naam phrik lohng reuua (น้ำพริกลงเรือ) – Literally translated as “boat embarking chili relish”, this particular boat seems to have drifted a long way from port and these days, the actual dish served in Thai restaurants is far away from the original version. We want to tell you the real story behind this dish and to present you with the original version’s recipe in its true character – as if the boat is still moored at the dock.
Gaaeng Ranjuaan is spicy, sour, sweet and salty beef curry seasoned with no more than fermented shrimp paste chili sauce. It should be served steaming hot, and must possess three distinct flavors, similar to fish Tom Yam soup. These modest ingredients and an intensely-flavored curry emerge from a story about love, things lost in translation and…leftovers.
Studded with small green peppercorns that burst with a mild peppery pungency, this relish is not as spicy as one might expect from a Thai chili relish – nor does the sour taste serve as a noticeable flavor pillar. Instead, a warmer and softer peppery bite, coupled with the aroma of young pepper, delivers a complex kick. The peppercorns, together with the flavorful yellow chilies, wrap the pork’s natural umami and fatty characters and enhance its natural sweetness; this sweetness, despite being placed far in the back and only appearing at the end of each bite, is nicely layered by the use of shrimp meat and palm sugar.
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