How to Eat Thai Chili Sauce (น้ำพริก) Like a Thai

7/24/2015 HowtoEatThaiChiliSauce()LikeaThai

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HowtoEatThaiChiliSauce()LikeaThaiNovember 6, 2014 By Mark Wiens 12 Comments

Eating Thai chili sauces in Bangkok

Since the day I was born, Ive been a lover of dips and chili sauces.

What could be better than adding more flavor, plus extra spice, to every bite?

Thats the way I like to think of it.

When I first traveled to Southeast Asia and started exploring the cuisine, I was fascinated (and I still am), with the crucialimportance of chili pastes, sauces, and dips, whichso many different dishes rely upon.

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Nam prik () vendor in Bangkok

From Sri Lankan pol sambol and lunu miris, to the full array or Indonesian sambal chili sauces, and backto my home inThailand, where sauces and dips are an everyday condiment.

There are hundreds of delicious Thai foods to try, and I cover most of my Thai food discoveries over onEatingThaiFood.com. But I decided to write about this Thai meal experience right here, because chili sauces are one of myfavorite things in the world.

Im not talking about ketchup or bottled sweet and sour sauce, were talking about hand-made chili sauces, prepared witha selection of fresh ingredients (and some fermented ingredients too).



What is nam prik ()?

Whatisnamprik()?Nam prik (also sometimes spelled nam phrik ), is the Thai word for chili sauce, and can refer to a wide variety ofdipping sauces, most of them packed with pungent ingredients like chilies, garlic, shrimp paste, and lime juice.

Most of the time in Thailand, nam prik is eaten with a selection of boiled vegetables, fried fish (usually small deep friedfish), omelets or boiled eggs, plus a plate of rice.

PopularityofnamprikinThailandIn Thailand, dierent types of nam prik () along with vegetables, sh, and rice, are an extremely common meal.

Go to any ready-madestreet food market in Bangkok, and youll find a food vendor, with a huge pile of about 15different kinds of boiled vegetables, anda selection of red and maroon colored sauces on the side.



Self serve your plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom )

Its customary to walk up to the vendor, get a plate and tongs, and self-serve yourself whatever boiled vegetables (pakdom ) and pieces of sh youd like.

The vendor will then bag everything up, and include another bag of the Thai nam prik () sauce that you choose, ando youll go.

Along with takeaway vendors that sell nam prik, youll also sometimes find versions of nam prik atsit-down restaurants,for example this southerncurry restaurant in Bangkok, or this northern Thai restaurant in Chiang Mai.

These restaurants dont really specialize specically only in nam prik, but usually serve a full menu, and oer nam prik () almost like an appetizer of veggies and dip.



Look at all those things you can choose from!

Everyday,yetnotcommon?Like I said above, nam prik is extremely common for takeaway, and also available at somesit down restaurants.

BUT for some reason, its rare to find a street food vendor, especially in Bangkok, who exclusively sells Thai nam prik chilisauces, and offers street side tables to eat at.

Same goes for a dish like khao kluk kapi (another one of my favorites) its common to find at markets for takeaway, butits relatively hard to find a place where you can sit down and eat it.



One of my favorite places to eat Thai nam prik in Bangkok

WheretoeatnamprikinBangkok?You can imagine, I was pretty thrilled to find a stall, at the base of Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Bangkok, thatsold a gorgeousvariety of nam prik, vegetables, fish, and rice, where you could sit down to enjoy the meal, without having to take it away.

The no-name street food stall, is one of the most popular stalls in the area, always attracting a crowd during the lunchtimerush.



Setting up for the lunch rush

They make all their Thai chili sauces, vegetables, and fried fish before arriving, and once they arrive to their base ofSukhumvit Soi 101, they unpack everything and display the different choices in a beautiful and colorful array.



Waiting for them to open

Even as they are setting up, a handful of people (myself included), begin to start hovering around their stall, checking tosee whats available, hoping to place an early order.

While some people choose to takeaway, they do have about 10 tables setup along the side of the sidewalk, where if yourelucky, you can grab a seat.

Sometimes, especially during the office lunch rush hour, from about 12 noon 1 pm or so, all tables will be full. So if yougo, its wise to either get there by 11:30 am, or to go more around 2 pm, though some of the popular chili sauces will beout by then.



Ordering nam prik () is always part of the fun.

Orderingnamprik()The first thing to do when you arrive to this glorious nam prik stand in Bangkok, is to place your order.

Since things can get a little hectic with all the hungry people, theres a little paper pad where you can write down yourorder to makes things easier for the vendor.

However, the vendors are extremely nice, and if you dont write Thai, you can always pick your own vegetables, and thenpoint to the chili sauces that youd like.



Heres what we ordered

Once youve made your order, they will bring it to your table, and youll be ready to feast.

The colors of the green vegetables, the red chili sauces, and the fried fish, make for a truly picturesque contrast of colors its such a beautiful meal.



A big plate of boiled vegetables (pak dom )

You can honestly knock yourself out when it comes to picking your own boiled vegetables (pak dom ), theres somuch to choose from.

I went with cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, okra, morning glory, cha om (wandering wattle shoots), and some otherrandom vegetables that I dont even know the names of.

I didnt see any bitter melon on the day I went, but thats also something I normally enjoy eating with Thai nam pirksauces. Perhaps bitter melon wasnt good at the market this particular day.



The proteins

For protein, I got a pla too tod (fried mackerel ), a few pieces of pla tod krob (crispy sh ), and nallya small cha om kai (omelet stued with climbing wattle shoots , and I got some on the boiled vegetable plate too).



Pla tod krob (crispy sh )

There were other types of fried fish also available, plus fried pork, and I think they might occasionally have some types ofThai sausages too.

When I eat Thai nam prik, I like to stick with mainly fish, and omelets, and of course all the veggies, as I really think they gowell with the chili sauces.



Finally on to the nam prik ()

Thenamprikchilisauces()Ok, weve got to keep moving here, onto the chili sauces; This meal would be pretty bland without the nam prik!

This particular vendor literally has about fifteendifferent types of Thai nam prik to choose from, all of them made from avariety of different ingredients, and each one looking spectacular.

I only wish I could have chosen all of them (for more info on types of nam prik, check out my guide here).

After some contemplation, my wife and I decided to try three different versions: nam prik kapi (), nam prik dadaeng (), and nam prik pla ra ().



Nam prik kapi () Shrimp paste sauce

Namprikkapi()Nam prik kapi () is what I would call the classic, most widely available, and probably one of the overall mostbeloved versions of Thai nam prik.

Kapi () is the Thai word for fermented shrimp paste, and thats what makes up the base of this sauce.

Its flavored with lots of chilies and lime juice to balance out the salty shrimp paste. Though it does have a shrimp flavor toit, I think the lime juice tonesit out, and for myself, its one of my favorites.



Nam prik da daeng () Red eye chili sauce

Namprikdadaeng()Known as red eye chili sauce in Thai, this is one of the spicier versions.

However, I think it looks a lot spicier than it is. It was slightly spicy, but I think they used dry spur chilies, as opposed to thehotter Thai bird chilies, so it wasnt nearly as fiery as it looked.

The nam prik da daeng () was very fragrant, slightly sweet, and more like a relish or paste, than a dip.

It went well with rice, fish, and the omelet.



Nam prik pla ra () Fermented sh chili sauce

Namprikplara()Pla ra (), or fermented sh sauce, is a popular avor enhancer in Thai cuisine, often used in green papaya salad (somtam pla ra).

To me it tasted like there was a bit of grilled fish in this chili sauce as well, and it also had roasted green chilies and garlic,which added a wonderful fragrance.

The nam prik pla ra (), was again, nicely balanced, and it wasnt overly pungent with the fermented sh sauce.It had a slightly cheesy avor, but along with chilies and garlic, and a hit of lime juice, it tasted wonderful.

This nam prik went especially well with the vegetables in my opinion.



A bite of cha om kai () with nam prik

HowtoeatnamprikWhen it comes to eating Thai nam prik (), you have a couple of dierent choices:

Put bites on your plate, then add nam prik, and then eat with rice, or you can just grab vegetables or fish with your hand,and dip straight into the chili sauce and take a bite.

I can seriously say that one of the things I love about Thailand is

Doubledippingisallowed.

(Double dipping is always the way to go its like refreshing and renewing extra flavor, and you should double dip too aslong as youre not sick).



Nam prik goes so well with vegetables

Anyway, for eating the vegetables, I like to usually grab some bites, and put them on my rice, then dip into the nam prik,and spread it over my vegetables.

This method makes it easier to get some rice mixed in with each bite.



Dipping the pla tod krob (crispy sh ) into nam prik kapi

Other times, its nice to just dip straight in, especially with things like the crispy fish, or other thingsthat wouldnt work toowell to place on top of your rice first.

Either way your choose and I can say it will taste fantastic.

The crispy fried fish was like a giant fish cracker, completely crispy through and through, and yet, not overly oily. It wassalty, and went extremely well with everyone of the nam priks.



Flavorful pla too tod ( mackerel)

Theplatootod(mackerel)wasexcellenttoo.Ive always loved small fish, theres somuch flavor packed into little fish. This mackerel was deep fried as well, slightlycrispy on the outside skin, and there was some nice moist meat on it.

My favorite chili sauce to eat with the mackerel was nam prik kapi (), which complemented it nicely.



This is my kind of street food

For myself, this is the type of street food I travel for, the entire experience, the combination of food and atmosphere Iwas in absolute street food paradise.

ThisisexactlythetypeofmealIwouldtraveltoeat.



Eating Thai nam prik in Bangkok

If youre interested, you can watch the full video of this meal here:



(Or watch it on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/F0OwjlIDaFM)

ConclusionThai nam prik chili sauces in Thailand are so common,I think they are not always given the attention they deserve in Thaicuisine.

My wife Ying (shes Thai) admitted that nam prik () is such an everyday market food, that she hardly would ever thinkof sitting down to only eat nam prik at a street food stall (not talking about at home).

Nam prik () is typically bought for takeaway, or eaten sort of like a garnish or appetizer, at some nicer sit downrestaurants, but accompanied with other dishes as well.

Its very rare to nd a Thai street food stall, where you can sit down and exclusively eat nam prik ().

For myself, nam prik makes one of my favorite Thai meals.

I absolutely lovethe fresh combinationof boiled vegetables, fried fish, and rice, paired with spicy, pungent, and flavorfulchili sauces.

Howyoucaneathere:Open hours: 11:30 am about 3 pm Tuesday Friday(but just so you know, this is street food, so sometimes they areclosed without warning)Prices: Our full meal here, everything pictured plus 2 plates of rice, cost 130 THB (about $4)How to get there: The place is located right at the base of Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Bangkok, and its really easy to get there,almost right below Punnawithi BTS station. Take the BTS skytrain to Punnawithi, exit #1, and once you go down the stairs,youll need to make a u-turn to go back to Soi 101. Restaurant will be on your left hand side, about 20 meters down theroad, along the gate of Hua SengHong Chinese restaurant.

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Comments

De'Jav saysNovember 8, 2014 at 6:20 pm

Cant go wrong with put some spice on the foods. The food looks amazing and fresh. I cant wait to go to Thailand.

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Mark Wiens saysNovember 10, 2014 at 7:22 am

Yes, for sure, hope you can visit Thailand soon.

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Mike | Earthdrifter saysNovember 8, 2014 at 9:23 pm

Youre in Salivation City Mark. For price, quality, taste and nutritious value, Thailands gotta be the number onestreet food country on the planet.

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Charis saysNovember 12, 2014 at 2:38 pm

That crispy fried fish making me crazy. Want to taste that.That food really looks very delicious.

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Mark Wiens saysDecember 2, 2014 at 12:52 pm

Thank you for reading Charis!

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Adam saysNovember 17, 2014 at 5:21 am

Out of all the spicy food in the world, Thailand seems to do it best. From nit noi to suicide hot, you can have it all inthis country!

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Thats about right Adam!

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Ken saysNovember 20, 2014 at 11:00 am

I like Thailand dishes, terribly hot and spicy. You should try it.

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Mark Wiens says




Good to hear that Ken.

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Jo saysMay 20, 2015 at 5:13 am

This post about sauces was so mouthwatering! Thank you, thank you. Ill be heading there in 2 weeks.

Ps Do you know anywhere thats serves good Pla Sailit?

Reply

Mark Wiens saysMay 24, 2015 at 6:16 am

Thank you Jo, good to hear youll be coming to Thailand soon. Hmm, usually they are just served at streetfood stalls. You might try Or Tor Kor Market.

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Trackbacks

Authentic Thai Nam Prik Kapi Recipe ( ) says:February 8, 2015 at 8:36 pm[] There are two methods to eating nam prik kapi, which I explained in more detail here. []

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How to Eat Thai Chili Sauce (น้ำพริก) Like a Thai