The four Thai table condiments: how to use them, and a prik nam pla ratio

On the table at almost every noodle shop and one-plate rice stall you will find four condiments side by side, called khrueang prung (เครื่องปรุง, seasonings) or khrueang phuang (เครื่องพวง, the condiment set): sugar, fish sauce, chili vinegar and chili flakes. One for each taste: sweet, salty, sour, hot. They are there so you can finish your own bowl. There is one rule: taste first, then add only what is missing, a little at a time.

This article covers what each one does, which dishes it suits, how to make chili fish sauce and chili vinegar at home, and how much salt a spoon of fish sauce carries.

The four on the table

Condiment	Adds	Use on	Start with
Sugar (น้ำตาล, nam tan)	Sweet; softens sharp sour, salt and heat	Noodle soup, rad na	A small pinch
Fish sauce (น้ำปลา, nam pla) or prik nam pla (พริกน้ำปลา)	Salty, savoury	Noodles, fried rice, fried egg, one-plate dishes	A few drops, then taste
Chili vinegar (พริกน้ำส้ม, prik nam som)	Sour, mild heat	Noodle soup, rad na, pad see ew	Half a spoon
Chili flakes (พริกป่น, prik pon)	Hot, toasted chili aroma	Noodle soup, rad na	A small pinch

Some places skip the sugar, and some put out prik nam pla instead of plain fish sauce. The exact set varies, but the four tastes are always covered.

Sugar is not there to make it sweet

Visitors are often surprised to see Thais add sugar to noodle soup. A pinch does not make the broth taste like dessert. It rounds off broth that is too sour, too salty or too hot. If the bowl does not taste sharp, you do not need it.

Fish sauce and prik nam pla

Fish sauce is the main salty seasoning in Thai food. On the table it may be plain, or as prik nam pla with sliced bird’s eye chilies in it; some places add sliced garlic or shallot and a squeeze of lime.

Prik nam pla at home (makes about 4 tablespoons)

1. 3 tablespoons fish sauce
2. 1 tablespoon lime juice (a 3:1 ratio of fish sauce to lime; go 4:1 if you like it saltier)
3. 3 to 5 sliced bird’s eye chilies, to taste
4. Sliced garlic or shallot, optional
5. Stir and let it sit at least 10 minutes so the chilies infuse

Lime makes it taste less salty, but the salt in the spoon stays the same.

Chili vinegar and chili flakes

Prik nam som is sliced chilies covered in white vinegar, left at least 20 minutes before use. Kept sealed in the fridge, it lasts for months. Milder chilies such as spur chilies (prik chi fa) are common. It adds a sourness that cuts through rich bone broth or rad na gravy, with almost no salt.

Prik pon is dried chili, toasted and ground. It is hotter than it looks because it spreads through the bowl at once. Add a pinch, stir, taste.

Taste before you add, and add one thing at a time. The kitchen has seasoned the dish; the table is for adjusting, not for using everything.

Worked example: seasoning one bowl of noodle soup

Thailand’s Department of Health (Bureau of Nutrition) lists about 464 mg of sodium in 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, about 1,394 mg in 1 tablespoon, and about 1,397 mg in 1 tablespoon of prik nam pla. The World Health Organization recommends adults keep sodium below 2,000 mg a day.

Compare two ways of seasoning the same bowl. This counts only what you add at the table, not the salt already in the broth.

	Adding without tasting	Tasting first
Fish sauce	2 tsp = 928 mg	1/2 tsp ≈ 232 mg
Chili vinegar	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Chili flakes	1 tsp	1/2 tsp
Sugar	2 tsp	1/2 tsp
Sodium added	928 mg ≈ 46% of 2,000	232 mg ≈ 12% of 2,000

Step by step: 464 × 2 = 928 mg of sodium, and 928 ÷ 2,000 is about 46%. Tasting first: 464 × 0.5 = 232 mg, about 12%. The whole difference comes from the fish sauce, because chili vinegar and chili flakes carry almost no salt. If you want the bowl sourer or hotter, reach for those instead.

On sugar: 1 teaspoon of sugar is about 16 kcal, so two teaspoons add 32 kcal to the bowl. WHO advises keeping free sugars (added sugars) below 10% of daily energy, about 50 g or 12 teaspoons for an adult eating around 2,000 kcal. Two bowls a day at two teaspoons each already uses four of them.

Take care

• Fish sauce is made from fish. If you are allergic to fish, avoid both fish sauce and prik nam pla, and ask what the broth is seasoned with. See eating Thai food with a food allergy.
• If a doctor has told you to limit salt, for example for high blood pressure or kidney disease, adjust with chili vinegar and chili flakes rather than fish sauce, and follow your doctor’s advice.
• Chili flakes catch people out. If you are not used to chili, start with a very small pinch.

Common mistakes

• Adding before tasting. The dish is already seasoned; adding straight away usually makes it too salty or too hot.
• Using all four every time. Add only what is missing. Some bowls need nothing.
• A full spoon of chili flakes. They spread fast. A pinch is enough.
• Using fish sauce to make it sour. Fish sauce adds salt. For sourness, use chili vinegar.
• Forgetting the broth is already salty. Most of the sodium is in the broth. Leaving some of it in the bowl helps.

Summary

The four table condiments are for adjusting, not for using up. Sugar softens sharp edges, fish sauce adds salt, chili vinegar adds sour, chili flakes add heat. Taste first, add one at a time, a little at a time, and if you need to watch salt, adjust with sour and hot instead of salty. Next in this series: one-plate meals like khao man gai, pad kra pao and khao kha moo, and how to order them.

Sources

• Sodium in seasonings per tablespoon and teaspoon (public information, 2024) — Bureau of Nutrition, Department of Health, Thailand
• Salt reduction — World Health Organization
• Healthy diet — World Health Organization
• Rat na (table condiments) — Wikipedia
• Nam Pla Prik — Kvalifood
• Pickled Chilies Condiment (Prik Nam Som) — Kvalifood