Instructions: Lightly fry the shrimp paste to bring out the aromas, and discard any oil that is forced out by the heat. Mix the ingredients with half the fish sauce in a food processor and taste add more fish sauce until it is just salty enough for you.

Variation: add [up to] 6 finely sliced red chilies.

Once you have your dressings, you are ready to make one of a number of Thai dips.

1. Nam Jim Mamuang: prepare one cup of shredded green (i.e. unripe) mango, and combine it with the dressing. Variation instead of shredding the mango just julienne it. If you use the chile variation of the dressing the result is a Som Dam Mamuang (an Isan variant - the normal som dam is made with papaya).

2. Use a cup of coarsely chopped pineapple (nam jim sapparot).

3. Try a cup of any chopped fruit.

4. A variation my wife calls Nam Jim Luk Koei (kai luk koei is "son in law eggs" and is done with fried hard boiled [quails] eggs in a caramelized onion sauce). Take a cup of mixed "round things" -maraschino cherries, cherry tomatoes, cocktail olives, hard boiled quails eggs. Mix with the dressing[s] and serve on cocktail sticks.

A variation my wife calls "devils finger food":

Take about 2 tbsp. of shrimp paste, and fry it. Mix in about 1 tbsp. of sliced red chilies. Use this mixture to stuff pitted olives (instead of the usual bland pimento) and serve it with a hot version of the chile dressing from above.

Caveat: Even I find this a little hot.

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