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Bagoong (Filipino Shrimp Paste) substitute

Best substitute

Fish sauce (patis)

Use ½ to ⅔ the volume of bagoong called for, then taste

Best for pinakbet

Different texture

Bagoong's job is salt plus deep fermented umami, with a shrimpy funk on top. It is the seasoning of the dish, not a garnish, so anything you swap in has to bring salt too. Fish sauce (patis) is the easiest answer at about half to two thirds the volume. Dry Southeast Asian shrimp paste such as kapi or belacan works at a third to a half the volume, toasted in oil and slackened with a little water, because it is far more concentrated. Korean saeu-jeot is the closest match in texture and goes in at 1:1. Do not reach for the generic dry block and use it spoon for spoon, or the dish will be overwhelming.

Other bagoong (filipino shrimp paste) substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Bagoong (Filipino Shrimp Paste) with ratios

  1. 2Korean salted fermented shrimp (saeu-jeot)

    Close match

    Use the same amount plus ½ teaspoon fish sauce per tablespoon

    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.

    What changes
    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.

  2. 3Dry shrimp paste (kapi, belacan, terasi, mam tom)

    Taste and texture differ

    Use ⅓ to ½ the volume of bagoong, toasted, then slackened with 1 tablespoon water for every teaspoon of paste

    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.

    What changes
    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.

  3. 4Anchovy paste or mashed salted anchovies

    Taste and texture differ

    Use the same amount for bagoong isda or monamon; ¾ for bagoong alamang

    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.

    What changes
    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.

  4. 5Dried shrimp ground with salt

    Different taste

    2 tablespoons dried shrimp blitzed with ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon water for each tablespoon of bagoong

    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.

    What changes
    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.

  5. 6White miso plus soy sauce (no seafood)

    Taste and texture differ

    1 tablespoon white miso plus ½ teaspoon soy sauce plus ¼ teaspoon sugar for each tablespoon of bagoong

    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.

    What changes
    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.

  6. 7Salt alone (the honest floor)

    Taste and texture differ

    ¼ teaspoon fine salt plus 1 teaspoon tomato paste for each tablespoon of bagoong

    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.

    What changes
    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.

What is Bagoong (Filipino Shrimp Paste)?

Bagoong (Filipino Shrimp Paste) is the Filipino family of wet, chunky fermented seafood pastes, most often bagoong alamang made from tiny shrimp and salt and sold pink to reddish brown, with bagoong isda and bagoong monamon as the fish and anchovy versions, and in a dish it is the salt and the deep savoury backbone rather than a garnish.

Cooking tips

  • Taste your bagoong before you use it. Brands vary enormously, from moderately salty and sweetish to punishingly salty, and some are already sauteed with garlic, onion, tomato and sugar while others are raw salted shrimp straight from the fermenting jar. A recipe that says two tablespoons assumes one of these and not the other.
  • If your bagoong is raw and pale pink, cook it before it meets the dish. Fry it in a little oil with minced garlic and a diced tomato for three or four minutes until it darkens and smells nutty rather than sharp. Raw bagoong dropped into a finished stew tastes harsh and slightly metallic, which is the single most common reason people think they dislike it.
  • Season with bagoong first and salt last, never the other way round. Bagoong is doing the salting, and a pot that has already been salted to taste will be inedible once a tablespoon goes in. The same rule applies to every substitute on this list.
  • A squeeze of calamansi or lime, or a splash of vinegar, is what makes bagoong taste balanced rather than aggressive. This is why green mango and bagoong is a classic pairing and why binagoongan almost always has vinegar in it. If your substitute tastes too blunt, reach for acid before you reach for sugar.
  • Bagoong alamang and dry Southeast Asian shrimp paste are not interchangeable measure for measure, and a Filipino recipe that says shrimp paste almost always means the wet Filipino kind. The dry block from a Thai or Malaysian shop is roughly two to three times stronger, so start at a third of the quantity.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just use fish sauce instead of bagoong?

Yes, and it is the most practical everyday swap, but use only half to two thirds as much because patis is saltier per spoonful and much thinner. What you lose is the chunky texture, the pink-brown colour and the rounder, muskier fermented flavour, so a pot of pinakbet made with patis tastes cleaner and lighter. Where the bagoong is served as a condiment on the side, as with kare-kare, fish sauce on its own is too watery, so fry a little garlic into it and add a teaspoon of sugar.

Can I just leave bagoong out?

You can, but you have to replace the salt it was providing, or the dish will taste watery rather than simply less funky. Use about a quarter teaspoon of fine salt per tablespoon of bagoong, plus a teaspoon of tomato paste for body. In pinakbet or a vegetable stew the result is perfectly good, just plainer. In binagoongan or in kare-kare's condiment, bagoong is the dish's defining flavour, so leaving it out changes what you are making.

Is bagoong the same as the shrimp paste in Thai or Malaysian recipes?

No, and this trips people up constantly. Bagoong alamang is wet, chunky, pink and pourable, made from tiny shrimp and salt with a relatively short ferment. Thai kapi, Malaysian belacan and Indonesian terasi are hard dark blocks, dried and fermented much longer, two to three times as concentrated, and they need toasting before use. If you are using the dry block in place of bagoong, start at a third of the amount, toast it, and thin it with water.

What is the difference between bagoong alamang and bagoong isda?

Alamang is made from tiny shrimp and is the pink chunky paste used in pinakbet, kare-kare and binagoongan, and it is what most recipes mean by bagoong without qualification. Bagoong isda and bagoong monamon are made from fish, usually anchovies, and are darker, saltier and more assertively fishy, and they are more common in Ilocano cooking. Anchovy paste is a good stand-in for the fish versions; fish sauce or Korean saeu-jeot is better for alamang.

How long does bagoong keep, and does it go off?

It is a salt preserve, so an opened jar keeps for many months in the refrigerator, and the flavour deepens rather than deteriorating. Use a clean dry spoon every time, keep the surface covered by its own liquid, and it will outlast your interest in it. If it ever smells sharply of ammonia rather than pleasantly funky, or shows fuzzy mould, throw it out.

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