At all of the Thai places I’ve been to (all three of ‘em), they serve a trio of condiments with the meal. I’m familiar with Sriracha and the red pepper paste, but I really enjoy the dry crushed pepper sprinkles on my pad kee mao. It looks like it has some powdery component to it, which makes me think it’s not just plain ol’ crushed red pepper. What’s it called, so that I might go a-hunting for it at the asian grocery?
Moving to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I thought it was crushed red pepper flake, and the “powderiness” is some of the pepper being shaken around so much it had broken up further into powder.
I’ll have to check with the wife, but I believe it’s just called phong phrik (chile powder). That’s a hard P on both words, the O is long as in boat," and the second word is like the English word “prick.”
Of course, that’s the Thai term. Your “Asian” grocery may not understand it if it’s run by, say, Chinese or Koreans.
Okay, checked with the wife, and I was close. She says it’s called phrik pon, which means “ground pepper.” Phrik, again, is like the English word “prick.” “Pon” is pronounced more with a B sound and resemples the English word “bone,” although the vowel sound is of a very short duration.
I’d rather not get into tones.