Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
FISH PASTE
Fish pastes are far more widely produced and eaten than fi sh sauces. They
are mostly consumed in relatively small quantities with rice dishes, and
often contribute quite signifi cantly to the nutrition of poor households.
Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast
Asian and southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as
terasi
(also spelled
trassi
,
terasie
) in Indonesian,
ngapi
in Burmese,
kapi
(
¡ лÔ
) in Thai, Khmer
and Lao language,
belachan
(also spelled
belachan
,
blachang
) in Malay,
Mắm
Tôm
in Vietnamese,
bagoong alamang
(also known as
bagoong aramang
) in
Filipino and
Hom Ha/Hae Ko
(POJ:
hê-ko
) in Min Nan Chinese.
There are two kinds of fi sh and shrimp pastes in South- East Asia:
1) Fish or shrimp-salt mixtures
2) Produces, which are fermented in the presence of cooked or roasted
rice on which yeasts and moulds are present.
The general method of preparation of fi sh and shrimp pastes is the
same as that described for fi sh sauces. Only the fermentation time is short,
as not all of the fi sh fl esh needs to be broken down. Fish paste must be
mixed regularly to help the salt distribute evenly.
Bagoong
Bagoong
, a fi sh paste from the Philippines, is made by fermenting well-
cleaned whole or minced fi sh, shrimp, fi sh or shrimp eggs in the presence
of salt (3 : 1 fi sh : salt ratio; w/w). The fi sh used for
bagoong
include
anchovies, sardines, herring, silverside, shrimp, oysters, clams, and other
shellfi sh. The fi sh-salt mixture is put into earthenware pots and covered
with cheesecloth for 5 d. The covered pots are then put in the sun for 7 d.
After that, the product is fermented for a further 3 to 12 mon.
As a by-product, the fi sh sauce
patis
can be harvested by separating the
liquid above from the paste. The paste is sometimes coloured by adding
'
angkak
'—a coloured rice which has been treated with the red yeast-like
organism
Monascus purpureus
.
Bagoon
g can be stored for several years
(Heen and Kreuzer 1962;
http://en.wikipedia.org/
).
Pra-hok
In Kampuchea,
pra-hoc
is prepared as follows: after the fi sh (cyprinids) are
beheaded they are kneaded by hand so that the scales and intestines come
loose. The fi sh are placed in a basket and covered with banana leaves and
stones for 24 h in order to drain. The fi sh are salted and, after leaving them
for half an hour, they are dried on mats for 1 d in the sun. The fi sh are then
pounded into a paste. The paste is put into open jars and placed in the sun.
The liquid which appears on top is removed. The paste can be eaten when
