Dried Shrimp

Ingredient

What it is

Small shrimp salted, boiled, and sun-dried into chewy, intensely savory nuggets — a seasoning protein across East and Southeast Asia, with regional differences in size, salt, and use.

How it's made

Shrimp are briefly cooked in salted water, then sun- or machine-dried until firm and orange-pink.

Flavor profile

Concentrated briny-sweet umami, slightly funky; chewy.

Regional differences — - **Chinese (hae bee / har mai): rehydrated and minced into XO sauce, fillings, congee, and stir-fries. - Japanese (sakura ebi): tiny pink shrimp, often eaten whole and crisp in okonomiyaki, tempura, and rice. - Korean:** small dried shrimp (saeujeot-adjacent dried forms) for stocks and banchan seasoning. - Southeast Asian: pounded into sambal, nam prik, papaya salad (som tam), and pad thai; closely tied to fermented shrimp paste (belacan/kapi/terasi).

Culinary uses

Rehydrated and minced, or fried until crisp and crumbled as a savory topping; a flavor-bomb base, rarely a centerpiece.

Cultural & historical context

A coastal preservation staple that let inland communities access seafood umami long before refrigeration.

Reference notes

Tags: `dried`, `shrimp`, `umami`, `seasoning`, `pan-asian`. Related: shrimp paste, conpoy, niboshi. Cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Malay, Indonesian. Links → XO Sauce, Belacan, Som Tam.