Phrik Khii Nuu (Bird's Eye Chilli)

The chilli (Capsicum annuum and its small-fruited relatives, with the bird's eye type commonly assigned to Capsicum frutescens) reached Southeast Asia from the Americas, carried by Portuguese traders, and was taken up by Thai cooks in place of the long pepper and fresh peppercorn that had given heat before. Phrik khii nuu, literally 'mouse-dropping chilli', is grown in kitchen gardens and fields across Thailand and sold in every market; Thompson treats it as the chilli of the Thai kitchen proper, the one that gives the sharpest, most direct heat to nam phrik, curries, salads and dipping sauces. It belongs to the village and household tradition of the whole country rather than to any single court or region.

Phrik khii nuu is a small, slender chilli, roughly two to four centimetres long, borne upright on the plant and pointed at the tip. It is picked green, when the heat is clean and the flavour grassy and sharp, or ripe red, when it is a little rounder in flavour and carries a faint sweetness. The green fruit is the common choice for pounded curry pastes and for slicing into nam pla phrik, the fish sauce condiment; the red is used for pastes where colour matters and for garnish. The heat is high and arrives quickly, and the seeds and pith hold much of it. Thompson distinguishes it from the large, mild phrik chii faa and from the dried phrik kariang by its fierce, immediate bite.

Phrik khii nuu is eaten with the rice-based meal as a whole: pounded into nam phrik and eaten with vegetables and fish, sliced into fish sauce to season plain rice and omelettes, and pounded into curry pastes where it works against coconut cream. Its heat is held by fat, salt and sweetness, which is why it sits beside coconut milk, palm sugar and fish sauce, and cold water, rice and cucumber temper it at the table. Light, cold lager or plain water suit it better than wine, since alcohol sharpens the burn.