ngapi

Definitions

A pungent Burmese condiment made from fermented and compressed fish or shrimp paste.

uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“The rivers and lakes abound with fish⟳, from which the inhabitants prepare⟳ their favourite condiment of ngapee.”

“Passing by Henzada, because intending to return⟳ thither, we went on to Yangdoon or Nyoungdoon, a large and thriving ports celebrated for its fishing trade⟳. Of this fact we were soon abundantly convinced by the abominable smell⟳ of nga-pee, a kind of dried and putrid fish⟳, of which the Burmese are particularly fond; nor by that circumstance alone, for we counted a hundred and twenty large trading vessels anchored along the bank.”

“Travellers on the steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company are wont to rail in no measured terms at the fish-paste which forms an invariable and obtrusively evident part of the cargo, yet no Burman would think⟳ a dinner complete⟳ without his modicum of nga-pee, and it is a noteworthy fact that one form⟳ of the condiment is of frequent appearance on English dinner-tables in the East, under the name⟳ of balachong, a term borrowed from the Straits Settlements, but which designates nothing more nor less than a specially prepared variety of nga-pee.”

CEFR level