Khao Kluk Kapi (Shrimp Paste Fried Rice with Toppings)

This will be the last post before Christmas and I wanted to do something a little different so set about researching some lesser known Thai dishes and came across this one. The rice is simply fried with a *small* amount of very pungent shrimp paste and oyster sauce and piled up with lots of tempting toppings. Each spoonful can be a different combination of tastes and textures- it’s kind of fun to eat!


For two people use:

• 2/3 of a cup of white rice


• ½ a teaspoon of shrimp paste (kapi) available from Asian supermarkets


• a big splash of oyster sauce x 2


• a couple of Chinese sausages, sliced thinly on the diagonal (salami or kabanos would also work well)


• a small handful of pork or other meat, cubed


• a big pinch of sugar


• small heap of green mango or papaya, shredded (I did a som tam at the same time to use all my papaya up)


• a few green and/or red chillies, chopped


• ¼ of a red onion or 4 Thai shallots, finely sliced


• 2 eggs


• a small wedge of cucumber, cut into slices


• vegetable oil for frying.

As with most fried rice dishes, the rice needs to be pre cooked, so this recipe works best with rice that has been cooked either yesterday or earlier in the day. Boil the rice until cooked, then rinse and leave it to completely cool and dry out a bit.


Make/ prepare all the toppings-

For the omelette, whisk the two eggs, heat some oil in a small frying pan until hot and fry until fully set, turning over half way. Blot on kitchen paper then roll it up and shred.


For the sausage- heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a pan and fry the sliced sausage for a few minutes until crispy.


For the sweet pork- again heat a little oil in a pan, fry the pork until half cooked then add the sugar and a splash of oyster sauce, cook until caramelised and sticky.


The rice- heat a small splash of oil in a large frying pan or wok, fry your small amount of shrimp paste- it’s very powerful stuff so open windows, put on extractor fans! and fry for about 30 seconds before tipping in the rice. Coat everything well then add a splash of oyster sauce, mix everything well- the rice should only look a pale brown.


Put the rice in the centre of a plate and pile up all the other ingredients around. Feel free to experiment with other toppings.

Sai Oua (Thai Sausage)

I’m back! I’ve been away for a week or so, having escaped from my little Yorkshire town for a bit- It’s been a busy week of weddings, conferences, visits to the capital and travelling up and down the country so time to enjoy some great Thai food again. Sai Oua (which actually means stuffed intestines- or basically sausages to you and me) are pretty much the same as our regular sausage, they usually come in the style of a Cumberland sausage, i.e. in a big coil but yellow from turmeric and full of Thai flavours. When buying at the Thai food stall you can ask for whatever length of grilled sausage you desire, or can even buy the whole coil. The picture below isn’t the prettiest but it is damn tasty and I wholly recommend you give the recipe a try.

This makes enough for 2 people:

• 6 pork sausages of your choice (please use decent ones though)


• 25g of red Thai curry paste (roughly a heaped tablespoon)


• two stalks of lemongrass, trimmed and very finely chopped


• a few stalks of coriander, stem is best, very finely chopped


• a small knob of galangal very finely chopped (some supermarkets have it)


• a few kaffir lime leaves, very finely chopped (some supermarkets sell fresh)


• a big teaspoon of turmeric powder


• a pinch of sugar


• a small splash of Thai fish sauce (nam pla) all supermarkets sell it

Into a bowl, squeeze out the sausage meat from the skins, then add all the other ingredients. Mix gently but thoroughly by hand until everything is well blended, and your fingers are probably bright yellow. Wet your hands and form the meat into sausage shapes again. I should say by the way, this recipe presumes you don’t have a sausage maker. If you do, by all means make a long coil in the traditional way. But otherwise, place your hand rolled sausages under a grill and cook on a medium heat until a little char forms and the meat is cooked right through, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice and ideally a cucumber pickle (recipe to follow soon) or your favourite chilli dipping sauce.