Dried shrimp is used for a lot if Asian cooking. We used dried shrimp mainly for sambal. Sambal is a condiment we eat with vegetables and rice. Dried shrimp on it’s own can be smelly for some people. In a dish, dried shrimp provides the umami and salty taste. Dried shrimp is widely available in south east asia

Dried shrimp is hard to come by in Ireland. In fact most asian and chinese ingredients are hard to come by here. We can find dried shrimp in most chinese grocery shops, however they are pretty costly.

My parents came down to visit me in Ireland earlier in 2023. My mum cooks peranakan cuisine at home, complicated dishes with layers of flavour. Dried shrimp is an important ingredient for some of her dishes. While she was here, she cooked a lot of the food we love from home.

Cheap Dried Shrimp

We were in Aldi one evening, I was looking for color by number kit that was on discount. As I was choosing the design, my mum had an excited voice. She picked up a packet of what looks like dried shrimp (picture above). She was even more excited when she saw the price which was pretty cheap (I cannot remember the exact price). I was at that time still focusing on finding the right design for the color by number kit.

When I had the chance to look up at my mum, I knew something was “fishy”. Turns out, those were indeed dried shrimp. She showed me where she took it from. It was the shelf full of snacks for pet. I suppose the dried shrimp was for cats!.

We had a good laugh at the shop when we realised those were pet food. Changed our perspective on what we considered as a delicacy