Goong Pad Nam Prik Pao (Thai Stir-Fried Shrimp With Chile Jam)

A savory-sweet Thai stir-fry made with shrimp, oyster mushrooms, long beans, and nam prik pao.

Published May 06, 2022

Shrimp Stir-Fry put on a yellow plate — Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

Cooking components in batches keeps the wok hot and prevents unwanted steaming.
Nam prik pao (Thai chile jam) adds a quick boost of flavor to the dish.
Oyster mushrooms provide a chewy texture that complements the bouncy shrimp and crunchy long beans.

Goong pad nam prik pao is a stir-fry of shrimp, oyster mushrooms, and long beans glazed with a nam prik pao-infused sauce. If you’ve got a jar of savory-sweet nam prik pao (Thai chile jam) kicking around your refrigerator, you’re in luck, since the dish comes together in under thirty minutes. If you don’t have nam prik pao in your refrigerator, well, you should; it's a versatile roasted chile paste that can be used as a condiment, much as you would any other chile paste, and it's also used in quick, delicious stir-fries like this one.

Although nam prik pao is already sour, sweet, and salty and packs a punch, it requires a bit more seasoning when using it as a sauce. For this dish, I use Thai oyster sauce and Thai light soy sauce to amplify nam prik pao's savory and salty notes, coupled with a touch of tamarind paste and sugar to round things out. I also give the nam prik pao some assistance from fresh ingredients. Since it already contains dried shrimp and roasted shallots, garlic, and chiles, I add their fresh counterparts to intensify the dish’s overall flavor.

This recipe was designed and tested with homemade nam prik pao and Thai seasoning sauces; using other kinds of oyster sauce or light soy sauce will yield a slightly different flavor profile, as will using store-bought nam prik pao. Since every nam prik pao is seasoned differently—I recommend the Mae Pranom brand, which is used widely throughout Thailand—you will have to make slight adjustments to the quantities you see in this recipe.

When cooking the stir-fry, I make sure to add each component separately to the wok, in order to sear them properly, cook them through thoroughly, and mitigate steaming. To start, I sear shrimp in hot oil until they’re nearly done, then set them aside. Into the oil left behind in the wok I toss chewy oyster mushrooms with thinly sliced onion and a roughly-pounded paste of garlic and fresh Thai chiles. After removing the seasoned mushroom mixture from the wok, I pour in the sauce and let it simmer until it’s slightly thickened, then add the shrimp, mushrooms, and long beans, and cook until the sauce is absorbed and the beans are vibrant in color and still crunchy. Finishing with scallions and Thai basil adds a slightly floral and pungent note.

Goong pad nam prik pao should be served with white rice, ideally as part of a larger meal, with something fresh like yam khai do or a som tam Thai and a curry, like a green curry.

Recipe Details

Goong Pad Nam Prik Pao (Thai Stir-Fried Shrimp With Chile Jam) Recipe

Cook 20 mins

Total 20 mins

Serves 2 to 4 servings

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Ingredients

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:

2 tablespoons (45g) homemade or store-bought nam prik pao (Thai chile jam)
1 tablespoon (15ml) Thai oyster sauce
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25ml) Thai light soy sauce
1 teaspoon (10g) tamarind paste
2 teaspoons (10g) sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) water
Pinch of kosher salt

For the Stir-Fry:

12 large shrimp (about 8 ounces; 225g), peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
6 small garlic cloves (25g), thinly sliced
2 to 3 fresh Thai chiles (2 to 3g total), stemmed (see note)
2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
4 ounces (120g) oyster mushrooms, firm central stems removed, mushroom caps separated, large caps torn by hand vertically into smaller pieces
1/4 small yellow onion (40g), sliced 1/4-inch thick (see note)
2 long beans (about 30g), ends trimmed, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 scallions, green parts only, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces (about 10g total)
1/2 packed cup (about 1/2 ounce; 15g) fresh sweet basil leaves (a.k.a. Thai basil)
Cooked jasmine rice, for serving

Directions

For the Stir-Fry Sauce: In a small bowl, stir together nam prik pao, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, white sugar, water, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
For the Stir-Fry: In a small bowl, combine shrimp with a pinch of salt and mix to evenly coat. Set aside.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Combine garlic, chiles, and a pinch of salt in a granite mortar and pestle and pound until a rough paste forms, about 20 seconds. Set aside.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Heat a wok over high heat until lightly smoking. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add shrimp and spread in an even layer. Cook undisturbed until rosy orange in color on one side, about 30 seconds. Using a wok spatula, flip shrimp and continue to cook until rosy orange in color on second side and shrimp are nearly cooked through, about 20 seconds longer. Transfer shrimp to a medium bowl, leaving residual oil in the wok.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Return wok to high heat until smoking, add mushrooms, and toss to evenly coat with oil. Use wok spatula to spread mushrooms into an even layer and cook without moving them until mushrooms are lightly browned on bottom side, about 45 seconds. Add the garlic-chile mixture and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onion is slightly softened, about 1 minute. Immediately transfer mushroom mixture to the bowl with the shrimp.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Add stir-fry sauce to wok and cook until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, about 45 seconds. Add long beans along with the shrimp and mushroom mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce has been absorbed, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add scallions and sweet basil, and stir until well-combined and basil is slightly wilted. Serve immediately with cooked jasmine rice.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Special Equipment

Granite mortar and pestle, carbon steel wok, wok spatula.

Notes

You can adjust the spiciness of this dish to your taste by reducing or increasing the amount of fresh Thai chiles in the recipe.

Since this stir fry pushes the limit of what I recommend cooking in a wok at once, especially on a home stove top, if you'd like to double it, I suggest cooking the components in multiple batches.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Stored in an airtight container, the stir-fry sauce will keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
194	Calories
10g	Fat
17g	Carbs
11g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories	194
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g	13%
Saturated Fat 1g	4%
Cholesterol 72mg	24%
Sodium 1146mg	50%
Total Carbohydrate 17g	6%
Dietary Fiber 2g	7%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 7mg	33%
Calcium 75mg	6%
Iron 1mg	7%
Potassium 371mg	8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)