Tai O and its famous shrimp paste

Tai O is famous for many things, including shrimp paste. When we strolled along the south side of Tai O we came to the shrimp paste producers.

Shrimp paste, made from fermented ground shrimp, is a common cooking ingredient in southern Chinese cuisine. In Tai O, the makers grind down shrimp to ferment in large tubs.

The smell is instantly recognisable. It is not really pleasant, but I guess you can get used to it.

When the weather is right, the paste is spread on to bamboo trays to dry under the sun and then packed and sold. It is often used in pork, seafood and vegetable stir fry dishes. I am not sure if I had it already, so I can’t really tell if I like it or not. We did not buy any shrimp paste in Tai O, so I might have lost out on something really good or I did save myself some money because I might not have liked it all.. who knows!