Burmese · Shan · sauce/condiment

Pe Ngapi (Shan Fermented Soybean Paste)

Pe Ngapi (Shan Fermented Soybean Paste) reads allium 5.8, nutty 4.3 and salinity 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Burmese · Shan sauce/condiment, about 87 hr 4 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Allium 5.8 · Nutty 4.3 · Salinity 3.6 · Richness 3.2 · Heat 2.8 · Warm Spice 2.8 · Umami 2.3 · Earthy 1.9 · Bitterness 1.4 · Sweetness 1.2 · Sourness 1.0 · Fruity 0.9 · Herbaceous 0.9 · Funk & Ferment 0.7

What's in it (8)

Time & effort: about 87 hr 4 min (2 hr 34 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 87.5 kcal, 7.1 g protein, 3.8 g fat, 6.3 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Soak the soybeans in plenty of cold water for 12 hours, then drain. They will roughly double in size.
  2. Boil them in the 2 litres of fresh water for 2 to 2.5 hours, skimming the foam, until a bean crushes to paste between finger and thumb with no chalky centre. Drain well and spread them out to cool to blood heat.
  3. Pack the warm beans loosely into a bowl, cover with a clean cloth rather than a lid and leave in a warm place, 28 to 32 C, for 3 days. Check daily: by day two they should smell of ammonia and warm cheese and be joined by fine white threads, and by day three they will be sticky when you lift a spoonful. This is a live Bacillus ferment, the same family as natto and Japanese hamanatto, and it is exactly what Shan cooks use where lowland Burmese cooks use fish. If it ever smells sharply putrid or shows black or pink mould, throw it out and start again.
  4. Mash the fermented beans coarsely with the salt, ginger, garlic and chilli flakes, adding the 2 tbsp water to bring it to a thick, spoonable paste.
  5. Heat the peanut oil in a small pan over medium heat and fry the paste for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until it darkens to the colour of dark chocolate and the oil separates. Cooking it this way both seasons it and stops the ferment.
  6. Cool completely and pack into a clean jar. It keeps a month in the fridge under a film of oil. Use it in place of fish ngapi in Shan curries, salads and noodle sauces, or as it is with sticky rice. Shan cooks also press the unfermented boiled beans into thin discs and sun-dry them, which is the pe bok used in Shan khao soi.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.