Buying:   Dried shrimp and shrimp pastes are very important to all East and Southeast Asian cuisines so they should be easily available in any market serving a community from those areas. They are unlikely to be found in normal supermarkets - even in California.

Storing:   Dried shrimp should be stored very dry in a tightly sealed container in a dark place. They should last at least a year, but should be discarded when the color fades.

Using:   When a recipe calls for just "dried shrimp" it is the smaller ones you want to use - they are cheaper and easier to measure out. If all you have is large ones, use a little more because they don't pack as tightly. Some recipes do call for "large dried shrimp" but if they grind them up size doesn't really matter. You can use a fair amount of discretion as to how much you use depending on how shrimpy a flavor you want but a little goes a long ways.

Subst:   Shrimp pastes can be used as a substitute for dried shrimp in most recipes, but the measure will be much smaller because they are more concentrated. A small jar of Thai shrimp paste is a good thing to have in the fridge. For more information see my page Seafood Products.