Variations: 3 Ways to Spice Up Your Tasty Dressing
While the basic seasoning works on everything, sometimes you may want to try something a little different. Here are 3 common ways to change the base seasoning:
Jazz no. 1: Replace some of the palm sugar with Thai chili paste.
The base seasoning is pretty light, so if you want a richer seasoning, adding Thai chili paste is the way to go. In addition to richness, it also adds a delicious and unique flavor. You can add more or less Thai chili paste, but remember that chili paste is sweet, so the more you add, the less sugar you need. Different brands of chili paste are not equally sweet, so some tasting and adjustments are needed here.
Jazz#2: In addition to the chili paste, you can also add coconut milk.
This makes the dressing creamier with a wonderful coconut flavor. Keep in mind that coconut milk is typically added Furthermore to the chili paste, although you can try just adding coconut milk to the base seasoning if you like – I don’t think that would be bad!
Jazz #3: For those who like original flavors, replace some fish sauce with Thank you or shrimp paste.
Please it is a type of fermented fish sauce that is different from regular fish sauce in that it is made from freshwater fish instead of anchovies and is much thicker as it contains many pieces of fish dissolved in the sauce. It has an original flavor that some people can’t do without, and it’s rich in umami. I love a Thank you dressing because you feel more full-bodied. You can add as much as you want depending on the level of flavor you want, but the more you use, the less fish sauce you’ll need since they’re both salty.
Fermented shrimp paste (speech) it is also a salty and strange ingredient, but it has a very different aroma. Personally I prefer to Thank you different seasoning than the one made with shrimp paste, but it’s here for you as an option. However, if you’ve never had shrimp paste, putting it in a salad is not how I would suggest trying it the first time! I would probably opt for the shrimp paste fried rice as a first course.
You can replace the plara with fish sauce in a 1:1 ratio. For the shrimp pasta, I would add just 1 teaspoon to the base seasoning and reduce the fish sauce to 1 1/2 tablespoons. Again tasting and adjustment are important as different brands are not equally salty.
*This is the plara I like (not sponsored) but you can also get it This pla ra from Amazon I’ve never had it but I’ve heard good things about it. Rule of thumb for purchasing pla ra: Modern brands with added herbs and seasonings tend to be more beginner-friendly. If the packaging looks old school and very “authentic” and the ingredients seem simple, it tends to be quite intense and these should be used with caution!
