Prik Nam Pla

Ingredients

The base

• 100 mlfish sauce
• a good one
• juice of 2 limes
• or to taste

The chillies

• 8bird’s eye chillies
• or to taste
• sliced into rounds

Sometimes added

• 3garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoonsugar
• 2shallots, sliced
• chopped coriander

To serve

• in a small bowl
• on the table
• spooned onto rice

Directions

1. Make it shortly before eating. Bird’s eye chillies are very hot. Wash with soap and plenty of water. Eight chillies makes it genuinely hot.
2. Use fewer of them if you are unsure. It should be salty, sour and hot. Adjust it all to your own taste. Wash the chillies and dry them. Wear gloves if you are sensitive.
3. Slice the chillies into thin rounds. Slice all of them fairly thin. Thin rounds release heat faster. Pull the green stems off first. Slice the garlic cloves thinly. Slice it rather than crushing it. Put the sliced chillies in a bowl.
4. Add all the fish sauce to them. Squeeze in all of the lime juice. Start with less than you think. Taste it and adjust from there.
5. Stir in the sliced garlic if using it. Add the sliced shallot as well. Stir in a little sugar into it. One single teaspoon is quite enough.
6. Let it stand for ten full minutes. Ten minutes makes a real difference. Taste a small amount on a spoon. Taste a drop rather than a spoonful. Have rice or water ready to hand.
7. Add more lime if it is too salty. Add more fish sauce if it is flat. Add sugar if it tastes too sharp. Add more chilli for more heat. Serving it is done at the table. Put it in a small bowl on the table. Start with one small spoonful. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• This is a table condiment rather than a cooking ingredient: each person spoons a little onto their own plate to adjust the balance of salt, sour and heat to their own taste. That is its whole purpose, and it is genuinely functional rather than decorative.
• Bird’s eye chillies are very hot and capsaicin transfers readily to hands and then to eyes and skin, causing real and lasting burning. It is oil soluble rather than water soluble, so water alone does not remove it — wear gloves, wash with soap and plenty of water, or rub oil on first.
• The chillies are sliced into rounds rather than pounded, which is deliberate: rounds release their heat gradually so the condiment gets hotter as it sits, where pounded chilli releases it all at once.

Substitutions

• Sliced garlic and shallot are common additions giving a sharp raw bite and sweetness; slice the garlic rather than crushing it, since crushed garlic dominates the sauce.
• A teaspoon of sugar rounds off the sharpness; some cooks use none at all and both are genuinely done.

Variations

• It relies entirely on good fish sauce, since a poor one gives a harsh condiment: look for a high protein figure on the label and a short ingredient list of anchovy and salt alone. The atlas carries nước mắm as its own entry.
• Taste a drop on a spoon rather than a spoonful, since it is far saltier and hotter than it looks, and have rice or water to hand.
• Let it stand ten minutes before serving so the chilli heat infuses; longer makes it hotter still, and it is made fresh each time rather than kept.

History

Fish sauce with sliced chilli, garlic and lime; the condiment that appears on every Thai table, adjusted to each diner’s taste.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prik Nam Pla?

Prik Nam Pla is a sauce & condiment from Thailand: table condiment of fish sauce, bird’s-eye chilies, garlic and lime. Fish sauce with sliced chilli, garlic and lime; the condiment that appears on every Thai table, adjusted to each diner’s taste.

How long does Prik Nam Pla take to make?

Prik Nam Pla takes 10 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes about 150 ml. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Prik Nam Pla?

Yes, within limits. Sliced garlic and shallot are common additions giving a sharp raw bite and sweetness; slice the garlic rather than crushing it, since crushed garlic dominates the sauce. A teaspoon of sugar rounds off the sharpness; some cooks use none at all and both are genuinely done.

What is the most important thing to get right in Prik Nam Pla?

Slice the chillies into thin rounds. Slice all of them fairly thin. Thin rounds release heat faster. Pull the green stems off first. Slice the garlic cloves thinly. Slice it rather than crushing it. Put the sliced chillies in a bowl.