nam pla

[ nahm plah ]

noun

1. a fish sauce used in Thai cuisine.

nam pla

/ ˌnæm ˈplɑː /

noun

1. a fermented fish sauce with a strong aroma and a salty taste, often used in Thai cookery

Word History and Origins

Origin of nam pla¹

First recorded in 1930–35; from Thai námplaa, equivalent to nám “water” + plaa “fish”

Word History and Origins

Origin of nam pla¹

Thai

Example Sentences

This lasts until the moment it becomes howlingly clear that, although the aguachile negro at Mariscos El Submarino may not be as punishing as the goong chae nam pla at certain local Isan restaurants, it is nevertheless one of the spiciest bowls of raw shrimp in New York City.

From New York Times

Her toothsome pad Thai, at once sweet and semi-spicy, benefits from a few tiny spoonfuls of prik nam pla, a condiment of Thai chiles in fish sauce.

From Washington Post

True Burmese fish sauce is almost impossible to find outside Myanmar; use Vietnamese nuoc mam or Thai nam pla, both of which are quite widely available stateside these days.

From Wall Street Journal

This fish sauce is now called nuoc mam in Vietnamese or nam pla in Thai, but the Chinese seamen called it ke-tchup, “preserved-fish sauce” in Hokkien—the language of southern Fujian and Taiwan.

From Slate