Shrimp paste

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Lengkare shrimp paste from Lombok Island, Indonesia

Belacan in a market of Malaysia

Shrimp paste being dried under the sun in Ma Wan, Hong Kong

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 (ငါးပိ [ŋəpḭ]) in Burmese, kapi (กะปิ) in Thai, Khmer (កាពិ) and Lao language, belacan (also spelled belachan, blachang) in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in Vietnamese (the name depends on the shrimp used),^[1] bagoong alamang (also known as bagoong aramang) in Filipino, haam ha/ha jeung in Cantonese Chinese and hom ha/hae ko (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hê-ko) in Min Nan Chinese.
It is made from fermented ground shrimp mixed with salt. Some versions are in its wet form such as those in Vietnam and other versions are sun dried and either cut into fist-sized rectangular blocks or sold in bulk. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Shrimp paste can be found in most meals in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. It is often an ingredient in dip for fish or vegetables.