Know your chili pastes

Don’t know the difference between naam prik pao and gochujang? That’s okay, because indexed blog Food52 has constructed a primer to help you learn about the many varieties of chili paste. 

They begin by dividing chili pastes into five broad categories: hot, fishy, spiced, fermented, and sweet(ish). Examples from various cuisines are provided to illustrate each category. The examples include pastes you probably already know, like harissa, as well as lesser known styles such as shatta (a thick, creamy Egyptian chili paste featuring tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, black pepper, parsley, and garlic) and ajika (a Georgian paste made with walnuts, hot peppers, and various spices including fenugreek).

The lists are not comprehensive, but the primer should help you decide into which category that chili paste recipe you’ve bookmarked falls. As always, the EYB Library is stocked with loads of recipes for (and recipes that use) many of these chili pastes and more. Here are a few to get you started:

Photo of chili garlic paste from The Minimalist at The New York Times by Mark Bittman