Bagoong (Filipino shrimp paste) substitutes

The same fermentation family, made from anchovies rather than shrimp, and the swap most Filipino cooks default to when the bagoong jar is empty.

Best for

pinakbet, ginisang gulay and vegetable stews, adjusting seasoning at the stove, any dish where the bagoong is stirred in rather than spooned on

Patis is thinner, saltier per spoon and cleaner tasting, so the dish comes out lighter and more straightforwardly savoury, without the chunky shrimp bits or the pink-brown colour bagoong gives a pot of pinakbet. For a kare-kare condiment, fish sauce alone is too watery to sit on the plate: mix 2 tablespoons patis with 1 tablespoon of minced garlic fried in oil and 1 teaspoon of sugar and you have something you can actually spoon.

The closest structural match anywhere: wet, chunky, very salty, made of whole tiny shrimp, and sold in a tub in the refrigerated aisle of any Korean grocery.

Best for

green mango dip, kare-kare condiment, binagoongan, anywhere the texture of the paste is visible

Saeu-jeot is fermented for less time and tastes cleaner and sharper, with a bright salinity where bagoong has a rounder, muskier funk. The half teaspoon of fish sauce puts back some of that depth. Colour is greyish-white rather than pink, so a pot of pinakbet looks paler. Mash it lightly with the back of a spoon if the shrimp are larger than bagoong's.

Made from the same shrimp but dried hard and fermented far longer, which makes it two or three times as concentrated as bagoong and completely different to handle.

Best for

binagoongan, stir-fried rice and noodles, sauces and pastes, when the Asian shop has no Filipino section

This is where most substitutions go wrong. Used spoon for spoon it makes a dish acrid and overpoweringly pungent. Toast the crumbled paste in a dry pan or a little oil for 30 to 60 seconds first, which turns the raw ammonia edge into a deep roasted savouriness, then thin it. Even done properly the dish tastes darker, smokier and more Malaysian or Thai than Filipino, and less sweet-salty than bagoong. Add a quarter teaspoon of sugar per teaspoon of paste to bring it home.

A supermarket answer that gets the salt and the fermented-fish savouriness right, and is the natural match for the fish rather than shrimp versions of bagoong.

Best for

pinakbet, sauteed vegetables, binagoongan, salad dressings and dips

Anchovy paste is smooth, so you lose the little shrimp bodies entirely, and it tastes fishy rather than shrimpy, saltier and more one-dimensional. To get closer to a sauteed ginisang bagoong, cook a tablespoon of the paste in oil with minced garlic, half a diced tomato, half a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of vinegar; that combination is genuinely convincing on grilled eggplant or green mango.

A useful improvisation when you have dried shrimp for stir-fries but no fermented paste, and it delivers the shrimp flavour and some of the grainy body.

Best for

pinakbet, vegetable stews, fried rice, noodle dishes

Dried shrimp are toasted and sweet-savoury rather than fermented, so what you get is shrimp flavour without the funk, which makes the dish taste noticeably cleaner and rounder. Toast the shrimp in a dry pan for a minute before grinding to wake them up, and add half a teaspoon of fish sauce per tablespoon if you want a hint of the fermented edge back.

The best option if you are avoiding shellfish or fish entirely, because miso brings genuine fermented depth and salt even though the source is soybeans.

Best for

vegetarian pinakbet, shellfish allergy cooking, vegetable stir-fries, dips for grilled vegetables

It tastes recognisably savoury and fermented but sweeter, beanier and rounder, with none of the marine funk that makes bagoong bagoong. A pinch of dried seaweed or a few drops of mushroom seasoning pushes it slightly closer. Add miso off the heat or at the end of cooking, since long boiling flattens it. This is the swap where you should tell your guests they are eating something different, because they will notice.

Sometimes the truth is that there is no substitute in the cupboard, and the dish can still be made if you supply the salt bagoong was supplying.

Best for

pinakbet in an emergency, vegetable stews, cooking for someone who dislikes fermented flavours

The dish will be correctly seasoned and completely flat, missing the fermented depth that is the entire reason bagoong exists. The tomato paste adds a little savoury body and colour and is worth the spoonful. Be honest with yourself about the dish you are making: pinakbet without bagoong is still a good vegetable stew, but binagoongan without bagoong is just pork.