Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines.

Shrimp paste can be found in many meals in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

[1] In Java, fermented shrimp paste (trasi or terasi), as mentioned in two ancient Sundanese scriptures, Carita Purwaka Caruban Nagari and Mertasinga, had been around before sixth century.

According to Carita Purwaka Caruban Nagari, Cirebon had angered the King of Galuh Kingdom after they stopped paying a tribute (in the forms of shrimp paste and salt, their regional products) to him.

[2][citation needed] Shrimp paste was one of Java's most popular exports bought by traders from neighboring islands and abroad.

According to Purwaka Caruban Nagari, Chinese Muslim explorer, Zheng He of Yunnan, used to buy trasi from Cirebon and brought it back to his homeland.

[citation needed] In 1707, William Dampier described trasi in his book A New Voyage Round the World: "A composition of a strong odor, but it became a very tasty meal for the indigenous people."

Dampier described it further as a mixture of shrimp and small fish made into a kind of soft pickle with salt and water, and then the dough was packed tightly in a clay jar.

Anna was the wife of British naturalist Henry Ogg Forbes; the couple travelled through the Dutch East Indies in the 1880s.

Later she wrote: "Then, I observed each dish of the native or European, those that I have consumed since my arrival in the East contains this; the essence of that rotten stuff that has been used as a spice.

"[3][citation needed] Traditional Kapi is described by Simon de La Loubère, a French diplomat appointed by King Louis XIV to the Royal Court of Siam in 1687.

In one chapter, "Concerning the Table of the Siamese" he wrote: "Their sauces are plain, a little water with some spices, garlic, chilbols, or some sweet herb, as baulm.

Shrimp paste produced in Hong Kong and Vietnam is typically a light pinkish grey; while the type used for Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, Thai, Indonesian cooking is darker brown.

Pink and salty bagoóng alamáng is marketed as "fresh", and is essentially the shrimp-salt mixture left to marinate for a few days.

[citation needed] Unlike in other parts of Southeast Asia, Sulu archipelago, Western Visayas and Bikol region in Southeastern Luzon,[9] where the shrimp is fermented beyond recognition or ground to a smooth consistency, the shrimp in bagoóng alamáng in many parts of the Philippines is still identifiable, the sauce itself having a chunky consistency.

A small amount of cooked or sautéed bagoóng is served as the side condiment of kare-kare, an oxtail stew made with peanuts.

[12][13] In Northern Australia, a variant of sambal belacan is known locally as blachan or blachung (a phonetic spelling of the Indonesian pronunciation), and is popularly prepared among Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander families in Broome, Darwin and Cairns.

[14] A version of belacan similar to Filipino "fresh" bagoong alamang shrimp paste (which is fermented for a shorter period) is known as cincalok.

[16] It is a finely ground shrimp paste popular in southeastern Chinese cooking, and a staple seasoning in many places Cantonese people settled.

The body fluids of the horseshoe crab (maeng da) are pressed and mixed with kapi, giving a quite sweet taste.

Mun kung is orange, oily, and more liquid while kapi is grey, light purple or even black, and much more solid and crumbly.

In Indonesia, major producer of petis are home industries in Sidoarjo, Pasuruan and Gresik area in East Java.

[citation needed] In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, shrimp paste is called sidol or nappi by the indigenous Jumma people.

In Sidoarjo, East Java, terasi is made from the mixture of ingredients such as fish, small shrimp (udang), and vegetables.

[citation needed] On the island of Lombok, Indonesia, a more savoury and sweet shrimp paste called lengkare is made.

In the Netherlands, Indonesian-style shrimp paste can be found in supermarkets selling Asian foods, such as Trassie Oedang from the Conimex brand.