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Fish and seafood from Myanmar

Hmyin ngapi (fine-net shrimp paste)မျှင်ငါးပိ

Hmyin ngapi is Myanmar shrimp paste made from the tiny shrimp caught in the fine 'hmyin-bai' net, with other small sea life mixed in. The catch is sun-dried on mats, mixed with salt, pounded and dried again three times, then packed into jars as a purple-brown paste. It is used both as a side dish and as a seasoning.

Fully documentedFish and seafood3 months – 4 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe salt share is from the Chaung Wa factory account (Myo Htin Kyaw 1984, as summarised by Ishige and Ruddle 1987). Other amounts are not recorded.
Hmyin (tiny shrimp)The day's catchWashed and sorted from small fish and shells[ishige1987]
Salt20–25 % by weight[ishige1987]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 4 months

Start
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What changes: The catch is washed and sorted from small fish and shells

Step 1 of 5
Land, wash and sort the catch
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Small fish and shells mixed in with the hmyin are picked out.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Hmyin ngapi is Myanmar shrimp paste made from the tiny shrimp caught in the fine 'hmyin-bai' net, with other small sea life mixed in. The catch is sun-dried on mats, mixed with salt, pounded and dried again three times, then packed into jars as a purple-brown paste. It is used both as a side dish and as a seasoning. Made in 5 steps over 3 months – 4 months. The longest step, pack into jars and ripen, takes 3–4 months (Ishige N. and Ruddle K. 1987). Salt is 20–25 % (Ishige N. and Ruddle K. 1987). Bacillus, dominant in the matured paste does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 monthsReported[ishige1987]Pack into jars and ripen
Salt20–25 %Reported[ishige1987]Mix with salt, pound and dry again, three times

What makes this one different

Hmyin ngapi is made from the tiniest shrimp of the fine net, pounded and sun-dried in rounds. Seinsa ngapi is the general name for shrimp paste eaten raw, and bazun ngapi is made from larger shrimp; the methods and uses are basically the same. Sources differ on the name. The Yadanabon paper calls hmyin and seinsa ngapi the shrimp pastes, while Wikipedia says hmyin ngapi is made from small fish and seinsa ngapi from prawns.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Bazun ngapiThe same paste made from relatively larger shrimp.
  • Factory hmyin ngapiRipened in concrete tanks with the liquid drawn off as shrimp sauce.

Safety

Salt and repeated sun-drying lower the water in the paste; keep it sealed from air. A 1999 thesis on lab-made Myanmar shrimp paste found food-poisoning bacteria at their lowest probable levels and toxic metals within the allowed limits. That result covers its own samples, not every batch, and at about pH 8 the paste gets no protection from acid. The Yadanabon paper says shrimp paste deteriorates during storage depending on the storage conditions and the type of paste.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [ishige1987] Ishige N. and Ruddle K. 1987, Gyoshō in Southeast Asia, a study of fermented aquatic products (5), Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology 12(2), pp. 279–281paper
  2. [mms1999] Myint Myint Sein 1999, The mode of formation of Myanmar shrimp paste, PhD dissertation, Department of Chemistry, University of Yangon (abstract, 3 pages)paper
  3. [moe2018] Moe Theingi Hlaing, Cho Cho Oo and Khin Thet Ni 2018, An investigation into the quality improvement of Myanmar ngapi, Yadanabon University Research Journal 9(1) (abstract)paper
  4. [wp-ngapi] Wikipedia, Ngapi (used only for the names hmyin ngapi and seinza ngapi)wiki