Then & Now | Where Cantonese chefs got their taste for shrimp paste

Haam ha cheung (“salty prawn paste”) is one of the most com­monly used condi­ments in Cantonese cuisine. Paler, smoother varieties are known as haam ha goh (“salty prawn cream”). Rather like durians and oysters, shrimp pastes are an acquired taste – people either crave or abominate them.

In the Malay-speaking world, this pun­gent concoction is known as belachan; in Indonesia it is terasi. Various kinds are made across Southeast Asia, and bagoong, the staple table condiment from the Philippines, along with Burmese ngapi, are reputed to be the strongest. Most use shrimp, of various sizes, but some, especially those in Indochina, use small fish as well. By general consent, the best Southeast Asian belachan comes from Penang, where it has been a local export speciality for decades.

According to various Western scholars, manufacturing techniques for this heady substance were brought up with the Portuguese from Malacca to Macau in the 16th century. A heavily spiced home-style Macanese variant, known as balichao, is still made there. Gradually, the process spread to other parts of south China. But, like many such things, exactly where the stuff was first made, and by whom, is now well and truly lost in the mists of time. Garum, the anchovy paste found through­out the ancient Roman trading world, offers a similar provenance conundrum.

Shrimp pastes are used in certain Cantonese seafood dishes – particularly those containing squid – and with some heavier green vegetables, such as broccoli. Like most other kitchen-shelf Cantonese condiments, such as salted soy­beans, fermented soybean pastes, pickled Chinese olives and various kinds of preserved vegetables, a little goes a long way. Heavily salted and fermented, shrimp pastes will keep, with airtight storage in a cool place, for several years.