The simplest and most universal of Thai table condiments — fish sauce with sliced fresh bird's eye chillies, and usually a squeeze of lime. Prik nam pla appears on every Thai table as the basic seasoning adjustment available to every diner — it is the salt cellar and the hot sauce and the acid condiment of the Thai table simultaneously. Its preparation requires 60 seconds: sliced fresh chillies in fish sauce, perhaps lime, perhaps a thin slice of garlic. Its function is both practical (individual seasoning adjustment) and cultural — it is the expression of the Thai table's fundamental principle that every diner is their own final cook.
**Preparation:** - Fresh bird's eye chillies: sliced thin (with or without seeds, depending on heat preference — with seeds for full heat, without for heat without the full intensity). - Fish sauce: good quality — this is uncooked, unheated fish sauce served directly. Its quality is unmodified. The difference between a good fish sauce and a poor one is directly perceptible at the table. - Lime: a squeeze into the bowl, or a wedge alongside. - Ratio: approximately 1 tablespoon of fish sauce per person with 3–5 sliced chillies. **Variations:** - Prik nam pla with garlic: 1 thin-sliced garlic clove added. - Prik nam pla with dried shrimp: a small quantity of dried shrimp for depth. - Prik nam som: chilli in rice vinegar instead of fish sauce — used for noodle preparations where a less savoury, more acidic condiment is appropriate (pad see ew, khao man gai).
David Thompson, *Thai Food* (2002); *Thai Street Food* (2010)