Shrimp paste may vary in appearance from pale liquid sauces to solid chocolate-coloured blocks. Later she wrote: 'Then, I observed each dish of the native or European, those that I have consumed since my arrival in the East contains this the essence of that rotten stuff that has been used as a spice.' Varieties Because of this foul-smelled ingredient, she accused her cook of trying to poison her and threw away that 'horrible rotten package'. In her journal she describes the culture, customs and tradition of the natives, including their culinary tradition. Anna was the wife of British naturalist Henry Ogg Forbes the couple travelled through the Dutch East Indies in the 1880s. In the 1880s, trassi was described by Anna Forbes during her visit to Ambon. However, after adding a little part of it, the dish's flavour became quite savory.' 'The mushy fish remains was called trassi,' Dampier wrote 'The aroma is very strong. Then they poured arrack into the jars to preserve them. The pickling process softens the fish and makes it mushy. In 1707, William Dampier described trassi (or terasi, Indonesian shrimp paste) in his book 'A New Voyage Round the World' 'A composition of a strong odor, but it became a very tasty meal for the indigenous people.' Dampier described it further as a mixture of shrimp and small fish made into a kind of soft pickle with salt and water, and then the dough was packed tightly in a clay jar.

They do much esteem a liquid sauce, like mustard, which is only corrupted crayfish, because they are ill salted they called it Capi.' In one chapter, 'Concerning the Table of the Siamese' he wrote: 'Their sauces are plain, a little water with some spices, garlic, chilbols, or some sweet herb, as baulm. Kapi is also described by Simon de La Loubère, a French diplomat appointed by King Louis XIV to the Royal Court of Siam in 1687. In 1666, kapi was described by a Persian diplomat named Ibn Muhammad Ibrahim, in derogative manner as ''rotten food unfit for cooking or eating.' After King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai occupied Pattani in the fourteenth century, shrimp paste ( kapi) became available in Thai court, although it was reserved mainly for aristocrats. They shared this practice with people from other coastal nations in Southeast Asia, including regions now known as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. As far back as the eighth century, inhabitants of the coastal cities of Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat - located in today's southern Thailand but then ruled by the Malay Kingdom of Srivijaya - used shrimp paste in their cooking. According to Thai tradition, the origin of kapi (Thai fermented shrimp paste) can be traced to their southern territory. Nevertheless, the origin of shrimp paste seems to point to Maritime Southeast Asia. Fermented fish or seafood is an ancient tradition in Southeast Asia, a similar tradition is demonstrated by Cambodian prahok, which is quite similar to the shrimp paste. The tradition to prepare shrimp, fish or seafood through fermentation is widespread in Southeast Asia it can be found in Maritime Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines) to mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam), and southern China to a lesser extent. It is eaten in very small amounts over white rice.

It is typically bright red or pink due to the use of angkak (red yeast rice) and the shrimp or krill remains readily identifiable. Ginisang alamang (sauteed shrimp paste) from the Philippines. History File:īelacan in a market of Malaysia File:Ginisang alamang (sauteed shrimp paste) - Philippines.jpg

Malaysian shrimp paste