Shellfish Products

Shrimp Sauce / Paste

Shrimp paste> is very important to sauces and dishes throughout Southeast Asia and Southern China. Basically it's shrimp, usually very tiny shrimp, salted, fermented, and dried until it breaks down into a paste which may be bottled or pressed into cakes. Much has been made of the overpowering smell and strong salty taste, but I haven't noticed these to be a problem, at least in high quality bottled products. Now the pressed block products are another matter entirely, you're going to want to seal them up tight in a jar. For details see our Shrimp Sauce Page.

Shrimp - Dried

Dried and Smoked shrimp have been important since mankind first learned to go to sea in boats, and make nets from local fibers. They are important as a powerful flavoring element in almost every country that has a seacoast, and to some that do not. For types and culinary details see our Shrimp - Dried page.

Crayfish - Dried & Smoked

[Nematopalaemon hastatus (Estuarine Prawn)   |   Exhippolysmata hastatoides (Companion Shrimp)   |   Macrobrachium vollenhoveni (African River Prawn)]

Confusion!   West African "Crayfish" are freshwater Shrimp (or Prawns, depending on your preferred terminology) and are not closely related to North American Crayfish, which are fresh water lobsters. The catch is predominantly of the three species listed above. West African Crayfish are usually smoked, which is why you will find recipes listing both "Dried Crayfish" and "Dried Shrimp". For details see our Crayfish - Dried & Smoked page.

Crab Paste / Sauce

Crab Pastes are not as widely used in Southeast Asia as Shrimp Pastes, but rice paddy crab sauces and pastes are very important in Laos and Issan, Thailand, where there is no access to the sea, and are also used in Vietnam. A entirely different crab paste is very popular in the Philippines, made not from crab meat or ground up crabs, but from the eggs of tiny crabs. For details, including how to make some of these sauces and pastes, see our Crab Paste / Sauce page.

Scallops - Dried

This is a popular and well though of flavoring for soups and similar dishes. It is the dried adductor muscles that close the scallop's shell. Small ones run about 2021 US $61 per pound, while larger ones, about 3/4 inch diameter, will be over 2021 US $100 / pound. They are sold by size in grams, 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G. 2G is a popular size, but the photo specimens are 1G, purchased from a large Asian market in Los Angeles (Alhambra). The flavor is quite powerful, so just a few small ones will usually do the job. They can be crushed and added to recipes without soaking, but are often soaked and then shredded.

Scallops - Dried

Clams - Dried

Mussels - Dried

Yet another dried shellfish used in Asia to add flavor to soups and sauces. These have a stronger, darker flavor than the dried clams. The photo specimens were purchased from a large Asian market in Los Angeles (San Gabriel) in a 3 ounce package for $25.01 / pound.

Oysters - Dried

Dried Oysters are used to flavor soups and sauces, and are also featured at Chinese New Years, combined with Fat Choy / Black Moss, both due to their names suggesting words for good fortune. Fat Choy, a dry land cyanobacteria, has no redeeming culinary or nutritional value, may be toxic, and its harvest is ecologically damaging. The oysters are, however, edible, with a strong dried shellfish flavor. Chinese consider the best to be big ones from Korea and Japan. I have ordered Chinese ones on-line for 2018 US $27.57 / pound with free shipping.   Photo from the Center for Food Safety, government of Hong Kong.

Cuttlefish Ink / Squid Ink

Available in small jars and tiny 4-gram packages (and probably some in between) this product is important as a black food coloring in Spain and Italy. It is easily available from on-line sellers of Spanish food products. In Italy it is often used to dye pasta black. While Cuttlefish Ink is most common, Squid Ink is also sometimes used.