Listen to the Thai name pronunciation
Mixing finely chopped fresh chilies including their seeds with fish sauce and a splash of lime juice makes the staple sauce accompanying almost every Thai dish. Restaurants reserve it an honor place on the table, next to the tissue paper and the tooth picks. The debate is on. Some call it “phrik naam bplaa” other will insist on “naam bplaa phrik“. Whatever it’s called, every Thai will admit that some foods just do not taste right without it. It is unimaginable having hot and crispy Thai omelette over rice without it. So, make a batch of it. It will keep for a few weeks in the fridge and will bring you closer to Thailand as it does to the millions of Thais abroad every day.
Ingredients
- 3-6 fresh bird's eye chili (kee noo suan) (พริกขี้หนูสวน) with the seeds, cut into very thin rounds
- 3 tbs Thai fish sauce
- The juice of half a lime
- 3 small shallots chopped thinly
- Pinch of sugar
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients and keep in the fridge in a closed container. Sprinkle gently over food.
A friend and a colleague, who used to live on a boat for 10 years in the British Virgin Islands, told me recently, that they had lots of tamarind trees over there and how much she loves the sauces and jellies made from tamarind.
In Thai cooking we love tamarind as well. anyone who is familiar with Thai cuisine knows that it is built on three basic tastes: Sour, salty and sweet. A sauce made from tamarind simmered with palm sugar and fish sauce is made to combine sweetness, sourness and saltiness into the old fashioned and still very popular “saam roht” or “three flavors” tamarind sauce. The sauce is poured over fish or shrimps.
To the dish success, as important as the “three flavors” are the chilies heat from roasted chili paste and the crisp & crunchy texture of the fried fish skin and its firm somewhat sweet meat.
Here is a dish with a modest name that has been part of Thai culture for at least couple of hundred years. Traditionally Thai salads are divided into three main categories based on the dressing type. The most popular salads are those with with clear dressings made of lime juice, fish sauce, crushed chilies and a touch of sugar.
ผัดกะเพราหมูสับ – Stir Fried Pork With Holy Basil and Chilies Recipe – excerpt from the book “Classic Thai
Stir Fry Dishes” by Thaifoodmaster
Hello Chef Hanuman,
Thank you so much for sharing your expertize with us. I would like to know about how long Chili & Lime Fish Sauce can last in the refrigerator.
Thanks again,
Johnny M.
Oops, I’m sorry…I didn’t read the portion above your recipe.
Thank you!!!
May i know your 3 tbs is 3 tablespoon or ladle? as i see from the photo u are using ladle. Sorry, but i need your help.
the measurements are in TBS of course, sorry for the confusion, the image shows a serving dish…..