Nam Prik Pao is awonderfully mellow, richly-flavored and versatile chili paste, but preparing itcan be quite a challenge. A few years ago, Chez Pim wrote about a London terrorist alert that was triggered by a Thai restaurant making a batch of Nam Prik Pao.  My husband shuts me in the kitchen to sneeze and choke my way through the burning chilies while he flees to the other end of our apartment.  So if this is your first time, beware and try to keep your kitchen well ventilated when you start charring the chilies. 

This recipe separates the wet and dry ingredients so you can choose to make either a dry paste or a wet sauce.  While that means the paste does not have the sourness of the tamarind, I tend to use mine in stir-fry and salad recipes which include the addition of lime juice or tamarind for a well-balanced final flavor.

Ingredients

For a batch

*The first 6 ingredients will combine to make a dry paste that you can mix into sauces or add directly to stir fries.  If you want a sauce that stands on its own, you can use a combination of tamarind pulp and water to get both the right consistency and add the gentle sourness of the tamarind to balance the other flavors of the paste. The preparation instructions below include added steps for making the sauce in italics.

Preparation

Cut or break the chilies into sections; remove stems and shake out seeds.  Chop or slice garlic and shallots finely. 

If making sauce instead of paste, prepare tamarind pulp by soaking a 2 tablespoon ball of sticky dried tamarind seed and pulp in a half cup of warm water. When softened, massage the pulp until you are able to fish out the seeds and fibrous debris and reserve the thick liquid.

Heat a quarter cup of oil in wok. Fry the garlic and shallots until golden and somewhat crisp; strain garlic and shallots out and set aside. Repeat with the dried red chilies, frying until the chilies start to blacken and smoke a little (make sure you have good ventilation); remove and set aside.  Pound the garlic, shallots, chilies and shrimp paste together in a mortar and pestle (you can use a food processor too but I like the chunky texture from pounded paste). Stir fry the paste, seasoning with fish sauce and sugar. 

If making sauce instead of paste, add a quarter cup of tamarind pulp to the frying paste with the fish sauce and sugar. Fry together briefly, then add the water and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasonings (fish sauce, tamarind, sugar; if not spicy enough you can also add some powdered chili). Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce is slightly reduced but still very wet.  

Cool completely, and store in air tight container.