The One You Actually Want

This is Thai sweet chili paste — often mislabeled, almost always butchered, and rarely done properly outside Southeast Asia.

On the mainland, this paste is infrastructure. It’s not a condiment — it’s a base system.

You spoon it into noodles, stir-fries, soups, seafood, vegetables, eggs, and anything that needs depth, heat, sweetness, and umami in one move.

Triple this recipe. Freeze it. Laugh quietly at store-bought jars.

Most chili pastes fail because they’re too sweet, too oily, too timid, or cooked without understanding sequence.

This one balances heat, acid, sugar, salt, and fat — and uses shrimp paste and dried shrimp properly, not apologetically.

• Triple the batch. This paste keeps beautifully.
• Tamarind juice can be frozen in ice cube trays and stored for 6 months.
• Soaking shallots for 15 minutes makes peeling dramatically easier.
• This paste improves after resting overnight.

Chilies

• 1 cup dried large red chilies
• 1 cup dried small red hot chilies

(Remove seeds from large chilies for milder heat.)

Aromatics

• 15 shallots, crushed
• 10 garlic cloves (Western-sized), crushed

Umami

• 1 cup dried shrimp, soaked in warm water until soft, then drained
• 2 tbsp shrimp paste

Sweet + Salt

• 1 cup palm sugar
• 1/4 cup brown cane sugar
• 1 tbsp salt

Acid + Liquid

• 1 1/2 cups tamarind juice
• 1/3 cup fish sauce

Fat

• 3 cups soybean oil

Step 1: Prep the Chilies

• Cut dried chilies into small pieces using scissors
• Soak in hot water 15–20 minutes until soft
• Drain thoroughly — they should be hydrated, not wet

Step 2: Build the Base

• Heat a large wok or saucepan
• Add 2 cups oil
• Fry shallots and garlic for ~3 minutes (soft, fragrant — not browned)

Step 3: Layer the Umami

• Add dried shrimp and shrimp paste
• Stir for 1 minute
• You’re waking things up, not scorching them

Step 4: Add the Chilies

• Add softened chilies
• Stir 30 seconds
• Short. Intentional.

Step 5: Add the Sauces

• Add tamarind juice, fish sauce, sugars, and salt
• Cook 2 minutes
• Remove from heat. Pour off 1 cup of oil and reserve
• Let the mixture cool slightly

Step 6: Blend

• Transfer everything to a blender
• Blend until smooth, thick paste
• No chunks. No mercy.

Step 7: Final Cook

• Return paste to wok
• Use low heat
• Stir continuously 5–10 minutes
• Add reserved oil as needed
• Cook until paste thickens and darkens slightly
• Cool completely

• Refrigerate: several weeks
• Freeze: months
• Flavor improves after resting

• Spoon into stir-fries
• Add to noodles
• Stir into clams, shrimp, or crab
• Mix with oil for cold dishes
• Add to soups for instant depth

Once this is in your fridge, cooking becomes easier.

This paste works because it respects process.

Heat before sweetness. Fat before acid. Time before shortcuts.

That’s the system.