View source for Ngapi

{{Short description|Seafood paste used in Burmese cuisine}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Ngapi
| image = Raw ngapi.JPG
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption = Raw ngapi
| alternate_name = ငါးပိ
| type = Paste
| course = 
| country = Myanmar
| region = 
| national_cuisine = [[Burmese cuisine]]
| creator = <!-- or | creators = -->
| year = 
| mintime = 
| maxtime = 
| served = 
| main_ingredient = Fish or shrimp
| minor_ingredient = 
| variations = 
| serving_size = 100 g
| calories = 
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| fat = 
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| similar_dish = [[Ngachin]], [[shrimp paste]], ''[[pla ra]]'', ''[[padaek]]'', ''[[prahok]]'', ''[[bagoong]]'', ''[[shiokara]]''
| cookbook =
| commons =
| other = 
| no_recipes= false
}}

'''''Ngapi''''' ({{langx|my|[[wikt:ငါးပိ|ငါးပိ]]}} {{IPA|my|ŋəpḭ|}}, {{lit|pressed fish}}) is a pungent paste made of either fish or shrimp used in [[Burmese cuisine]]. ''Ngapi'' is typically made by fermenting fish or shrimp that is salted and ground then sundried. Like cheese, it can be distinguished based on main ingredient and regional origin. ''Ngapi'' can be distinguished by the type of fish used to make it. ''Ngapi'' can come from whole fish (such as ''ngapi kaung''), from small fish (''hmyin ngapi'') or from prawns (''seinza ngapi''). ''Ngapi'' is a main ingredient of [[Lower Burma|Lower Burmese]] cooking and is used as a condiment or additive in most dishes. Raw ''ngapi'', with some exceptions, is not intended for direct consumption.

Similar fermented seafood pastes are common across the Southeast Asian cuisines, notably [[Malay cuisine|Malay]] ''belacan'' and [[Thai cuisine|Thai]] ''kapi'' and ''[[pla ra]]'', Lao ''[[padaek]]'', and Khmer ''[[prahok]]''.

==Etymology==
''Ngapi'' is a [[compound word]] in the [[Burmese language]], literally meaning "pressed fish".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Ruddle|first1=Kenneth|last2=Ishige|first2=Naomichi|date=2010|editor-last=Farrer|editor-first=James|title=On the Origins, Diffusion and Cultural Context of Fermented Fish Products in Southeast Asia|url=http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/html/ruddle_ishige.html|journal=Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Pacific Region|publisher=Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture|access-date=2021-10-19|archive-date=2020-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804084830/http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/html/ruddle_ishige.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Burmese term was borrowed into the [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Lao language|Lao]], and [[Khmer language]]s as "''kapi''", and now refers to [[shrimp paste]], not fish paste, in those languages. However, in [[Bangladesh]] their shrimp paste is called "nappi".<ref name=":1" /> In addition, due to the Burmese migrants' introduction of ngapi in [[Mizoram]], it is called "nghapih" using the [[Mizo language|Mizo orthography]] but refers to [[shrimp paste]].<ref> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxMTtCtOd7w Nghapih Kan Reitak Dah Theih/Shrimp paste Easy & Tasty Recipe Mizo Eisiamo]. April 12, 2023 {{Webarchive|url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/gxMTtCtOd7w|date=September 5, 2024}}</ref>

In English, ngapi was previously spelt in numerous ways, among them '''''ngapee''''',<ref>{{citation |title=Encyclopædia Britannica ''9th ed.'' |date=1876 |volume=[[:s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Volume IV|Vol. IV]] |page=[[:s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Burmah|552]] |contribution=[[:s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Burmah|Burmah]]}}.</ref> '''nga-pee'''<ref>{{citation |last=Titcomb |first=J.H. |title=Personal Recollections of British Burma and Its Church Mission Work in 1878–79 |date=1880 |url=http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/burma/titcomb1880/07.html |at=[http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/burma/titcomb1880/07.html Ch. vii] |location=London |publisher=Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts}}.</ref> and '''gnapee'''.<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''3rd ed.'' |date=2003 |contribution=ngapi, ''n.'' |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press}}.</ref>

==History==
[[File:Bodleian Ms. Burm. a. 5 fol 126.jpg|thumb|A 19th century Burmese watercolor depicting a ''ngapi'' hawker]]
''Ngapi'' has a long history in Myanmar, as continental Southeast Asia has the widest variety of fermented fish products.''<ref name=":1" />'' The earliest extant record referencing "ngapi" is a [[Mon language|Mon]] [[Petroglyph|stone inscription]] dating to the 1st century CE.{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2023}} <ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Steinkraus|first=Keith|url=|title=Industrialization of Indigenous Fermented Foods, Revised and Expanded|date=2004-03-26|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-8247-4784-8|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> ''Ngapi'' makers are also listed in Burmese stone and marble inscriptions dating to 1100s to 1400s.<ref name=":0" /> The Mon established a trading pattern for ''ngapi'' by the 1400s, trading ''ngapi'', salt, and rice in exchange for [[Ruby|rubies]], [[Benzoin (resin)|benzoin]], and [[musk]] from the Bamars in Upper Myanmar.<ref name=":0" /> The trade of ''ngapi'' was economically significant in pre-colonial era, and was submitted as a tributary gift by [[Mon kingdoms]] to the Konbaung kingdom. In 1880, [[Pho Hlaing]], a [[Konbaung dynasty|Konbaung era]] scholar, noted the purported health effects of ''ngapi'', including enhanced diffusion and digestion of phlegm and bile in the {{IAST|Utubojanasaṅgaha}} treatise (ဥတုဗောဇနသင်္ဂဟကျမ်း).<ref name=":0" /> During [[British rule in Burma]], European observers noted that the importance of ''ngapi'' in Burmese cuisine, and characterized its smell as "very self-offensive" and "offensive".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Sir James George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTIQAAAAYAAJ&q=nga+pee+burmese&pg=PA340|title=The Burman: His Life and Notions|date=1882|publisher=Macmillan and Company|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cochrane|first=Henry Park|url=|title=Among the Burmans: A Record of Fifteen Years of Work and its Fruitage|publisher=Flemeng Revell Company|year=1904|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref>

==Uses==
[[File:Homemade tamarind ngapi kyaw.JPG|thumb|right|Homemade tamarind ''ngapi kyaw'']]''Ngapi'' is a main ingredient of [[Lower Myanmar|Lower Burmese]] cuisine from maritime coastal regions in the west and the south. It is not a main ingredient in traditional Upper Burmese ([[Bamar|Burman]], [[Shan people|Shan]], etc.) cuisines, although improved transportation in the modern era has helped increase ''ngapi'''s popularity in [[Upper Myanmar]]. It is used in a wide array of dishes and is eaten in myriad ways: it can be eaten on its own, such as baked or roasted ''ngapi'', as a watery preparation called ''ngapi yay'' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိရည်}} {{IPA|my|ŋəpḭjè|}}), as a salad, as a pounded mixture with chili, or fried like ''[[balachaung]]''. It is also used as a soup base and in main dishes.

==Regional variations==
* Rakhine ''ngapi'' ({{lang|my|ရခိုင်ငါးပိ}}) – The ''ngapi'' of [[Rakhine State]] contains very little salt or none at all. It mainly uses marine fish, in light of the Arakanese being a seafaring people. Rakhine ''ngapi'' is used as a soup base for the signature Rakhine dish, ''[[mont di]]'' ({{lang|my|မုန့်တီ}}). Like other ''ngapi'', it is widely used in cooking.
* In the [[Ayeyarwady Region|Ayeyarwady]] and [[Tanintharyi Region|Tanintharyi]] divisions, the majority of ''ngapi'' is produced from freshwater fish. ''Ngapi'' usually contain a lot of added salt. This form of ''ngapi'' is more widely available in Myanmar and the Burmese population is more accustomed to the saltier ''ngapi'' than the Rakhine version. The ''ngapi'' from [[Myeik, Burma|Myeik]] is very well known and is saltier than those from the region.

==Other ngapi dishes==
[[File:Typical_Burmese_Meal_(29386485528).jpg|thumb|A plate of ''ngapi yay gyo'' is surrounded by an assortment of traditional Burmese curries and dishes.]]
The versatility of ngapi is reflected in the variety of methods the people of Myanmar have developed to consume ngapi.
* '''''Seinza ngapi''''' (စိမ်းစားငါးပိ) – a category of ''ngapi'' typically made with shrimp, that can be eaten raw<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2017-02-08|title=ကုန်ကြမ်းဖြစ်သော ငါးသေးလေးများ ရှားပါးလာသောကြောင့် ငါးပိစျေးကွက်အတွင်း နှစ်စဉ်စျေးနှုန်း မြင့်တက်လျက်ရှိ|url=https://myanmar.mmtimes.com/national-news/national-news-brief/24527-2017-02-08-10-11-20.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-14|website=The Myanmar Times|language=my}}</ref>
*'''''Ngapi daung''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိထောင်း}}, ''pulverized ngapi'') – the ngapi is baked or roasted in a frying pan without oil.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ထားဝယ်ပိထော (ငါးပိထောင်း)၊ ပိသုပ် (ငါးပိသုပ်)|url=https://www.mdn.gov.mm/my/thaawypitheaa-ngpitheaang-pisup-ngpisup|access-date=2021-01-14|website=MDN - Myanmar DigitalNews|language=my}}</ref> Depending on the region and family preference, the ngapi is put in a stone mortar and is pounded with garlic and red or green chili.
* '''''Ngapi yay''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိရည်}}, ''runny ngapi'') – an essential part of [[Karen people|Karen]] and Bamar cuisine. In the S'gaw Karen language, this is known as ''nya-u-htee'' ({{langx|ksw|ညၣ်အူထံ}}). The ngapi (either fish or shrimp, but mostly whole fish ngapi is used) is boiled with onions, tomato, garlic, pepper and other spices.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ပုဇွန်ငါးပိရည်ကျို|url=https://yangonlife.com.mm/mm/article/64353|access-date=2021-01-14|website=Yangon Life|language=my}}</ref> The result is a greenish-grey broth-like sauce, which makes its way to every Burmese dining table. Fresh, raw or blanched vegetables and fruits (such as mint, cabbage, tomatoes, green mangoes, green apples, olives, chili, onions and garlic) are dipped into the ngapi yay and eaten,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aye|first=MiMi|url=|title=Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen|date=2019-06-13|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-5950-8|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> in a manner similar to Thai [[nam phrik]], Indonesian [[lalab]], and Malaysian [[Ulam (salad)|ulam]]. Sometimes, in less affluent families, ngapi yay forms the main dish, and also the main source of protein.
* '''''Ngapi thoke''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိသုပ်}}, ''ngapi salad'') – a [[Burmese salads|Burmese salad]] made with ngapi diluted in lime or lemon juice and mixed with chopped onions and chili.
* '''''Ngapi gyet''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိချက်}}, ''cooked ngapi'') – ngapi cooked with oil, and depending on the seasonal availability of fruits and vegetables, such as shallots, chilis, tomato, [[mango]], [[chili pepper|chili]], [[Bouea macrophylla|marian plum]], [[tamarind]], etc.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=မြန်မာတွေရဲ့ အသည်းစွဲဟင်းတစ်ခွက် ငါးငါးပိချက်|url=https://www.howtocook.com.mm/recipes/မြန်မာတွေရဲ့-အသည်းစွဲဟင်းတစ်ခွက်-ငါးငါးပိချက်.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-14|website=How to Cook|language=my}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nga Pi Chet |url=https://www.kite-tales.org/en/article/nga-pi-chet |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=The Kite Tales |language=en}}</ref>
* '''''Ngapi kyeik''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိကြိတ်}}, ''ground ngapi'') – a Rakhine condiment where baked Rakhine ngapi is mixed with large green chili and garlic. It is also called ''ngayot kyeik'' (ground chili)
* '''''Ngapi gaung''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိကောင်}}, ''whole ngapi fish'') – a type of relatively dry fermented salted fish usually gutted with the head on. Usually deep fried and served with fried crushed dried red chillies and crushed garlic.
*'''''[[Thua nao|Pè ngapi]]''''' ({{lang|my|ပဲငါးပိ}}), from the highland Shan States, ngapi is made instead from fermented soybeans also called ''pè bok'' or ''[[thua nao]]'' (in Shan). Although lacking fish or prawn products, it is called ngapi. ''Pè ngapi'' is used as both a flavoring and a condiment in Shan and Burmese cuisine. It may also be used to make a curry.

*'''''Ngapi kyaw''''' ({{lang|my|ငါးပိကြော်}}; also '''''ngapi gyaw''''', ''fried ngapi'') – various types of ngapi that are fried with a wide variety of ingredients, mainly shredded shrimp flakes, onions, garlic and chili.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=အခြောက်အခြမ်းထားပြီး စားစရာ ငါးပိကြော်နည်း|url=https://www.howtocook.com.mm/recipes/အခြောက်အခြမ်းထားပြီး-စားစရာ-ငါးပိကြော်နည်း.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-14|website=How to Cook|language=my}}</ref> The texture can range from jam-like to flossy (''balachaung''), and the flavour varies depending on an individual household, restaurant or monastery. ''Ngapi gyaw'' is almost always present in ''ahlus'' (almsgiving ceremonies) in Burmese monasteries. Some ''ngapi kyaw'' may not contain ngapi at all.

==Nutrition==
[[File:ngapi kyaw.JPG|thumb|Ngapi kyaw with rice]]
As ''ngapi'' is made from fish, shrimp or beans, it is a source of protein. The ''ngapi'' made from marine fish and prawns also provide a source of iodine (which is abundant in all seafood): this may possibly be beneficial for those inland consumers whose diet may be iodine-deficient and who do not have access to [[iodized salt]]. Due to the high salt content which goes into the preparation, ''ngapi'', like all salt-rich foods, should be consumed in moderation in patients with salt-sensitive [[hypertension]].

==See also==
* [[Cuisine of Burma]]
* [[Shrimp paste]]
* [[Prahok]], Cambodian fish paste
* [[Bagoong]], Filipino fish paste

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{fish sauce|state=expanded}}
{{seafood}}
{{Burmese cuisine}}

[[Category:Fermented fish]]
[[Category:Umami enhancers]]
[[Category:Burmese cuisine]]
[[Category:Food paste]]