Condiment
Nam Pla
S tier
Nam pla is Thai fish sauce: anchovy (or mixed fish) and salt, amber, pungent, the salt of Thai cooking. First-press (naam pla deek or similar premium) is cleaner; this leaf is the everyday Thai bottle as a style. A splash in a stir-fry and a dressing. Vietnamese nuoc mam is a cousin, not a clone. Cooked nam pla mellows; raw it smells of the pier.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Nam PrikStir FryYam Dressing
Traits
AmberAnchovy SaltEveryday AmberNot Nuoc Mam TwinPier Then MellowSplashThai SaltThai Style
History
TH
Thai kitchens used fermented fish sauce as the primary salt.
TH
Bottled nam pla became the national supermarket condiment.
Nam pla was specified in Western Thai recipes against generic fish sauce.