Jitlada’s chef shares her family recipe for nam prik goong
Lettuce leaves, bitter melon, cucumber and green beans are nice for dipping.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
- Share via
Funky, salty and shrimpy, this dipping sauce comes from Jazz Singsanong of Jitlada restaurant. It’s meant for serving with cool, raw vegetables but works as a condiment for noodles, rice or other Thai dishes too. She made a batch for columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson in the first episode of the Times video series “Off Menu.” The recipe, as Singsanong makes it, turns out a pretty fiery dip; use fewer chiles for a milder option. You can find shrimp paste, Thai chiles and palm sugar at southeast Asian markets like LAX-C.
Off Menu is a new food show from the L.A. Times. Because food is relatable — everyone loves it and has an opinion about what’s good.
Nam Prik Goong
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
- 6 ounces shrimp paste
- ½ cup cooked shrimp, chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- ¼ cup Thai chiles, stemmed
- ¼ cup softened palm sugar or packed brown sugar
- ¼ to ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- Crudites, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-low heat. Wrap the shrimp paste in a double layer of foil and enclose the packet. Grill the foil packet for 2 minutes; the paste should be very fragrant. Let cool, then unwrap.
- While the shrimp paste cools, pound the shrimp, garlic and chiles in a mortar with a pestle until smashed into tiny bits. Or you can pulse the ingredients in a food processor. Add the palm sugar and shrimp paste and continue pounding or pulsing to form a coarse purée. Add ¼ cup lemon juice and stir or pulse until incorporated. Taste and add up to ¼ cup more lemon juice to taste.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve with crudites.
