Thai Roasted Chili Jam Nam Prik Pao 🌶️🫙

Description

Nam Prik Pao is a deep, smoky Thai chili jam made from dried chilies, garlic, shallots, tamarind, and palm sugar cooked into a glossy, dark, intensely flavorful paste. It is sweet, spicy, savory, and slightly smoky, with the kind of bold character that can transform noodles, soups, stir fries, and dipping sauces. 🌿
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Dark roasted chili depth, caramel sweetness, tamarind sharpness, and Thai heat make this one of the most powerful flavor bases in Thai cooking. 🔥

Ingredients

• Chili jam base
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• 🌶️ 40 g dried red chilies, seeded and cut (about 1½ cups / 1.4 oz)
• 🧄 30 g garlic cloves (10 cloves / 1 oz)
• 🧅 80 g shallots, halved (⅔ cup / 2.8 oz)
• 🥣 30 ml tamarind paste (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🍬 45 g palm sugar (3 tbsp / 1.6 oz)
• 🥣 20 ml fish sauce (1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 0.7 fl oz)
• 🫒 80 ml neutral oil (⅓ cup / 2.7 fl oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Soften the chilies
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3. Soak the dried chilies in warm water for about 15 min until softened, then drain well. 🌶️
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5. 2️⃣ Roast the aromatics
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7. Roast or pan char garlic and shallots until softened and lightly blistered for deeper sweetness and smoky flavor. 🧄
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9. 3️⃣ Blend the base
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11. Add softened chilies, roasted garlic, roasted shallots, tamarind paste, palm sugar, and fish sauce to a blender and process into a thick paste. 🥣
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13. 4️⃣ Heat the oil
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15. Warm the neutral oil in a saucepan over medium low heat until shimmering but not smoking. 🫒
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17. 5️⃣ Fry the paste
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19. Add the chili paste to the oil and cook slowly for 8–10 min, stirring often, until dark, glossy, and aromatic. 🔥
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21. 6️⃣ Reduce to richness
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23. Keep cooking gently until the oil separates slightly and the jam becomes thick and spoonable. 🌶️
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25. 7️⃣ Cool the sauce
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27. Remove from the heat and let the chili jam cool so the flavor deepens and the texture sets properly. ❄️
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29. 8️⃣ Jar and use
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31. Transfer to a clean jar and use in soups, noodles, stir fries, or as a spicy condiment. 🍽️

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 20 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 12 min
🛋 Rest: 10 min
⏰ Total: 42 min

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