Usual ingredients for nam phrik type sauces are fresh or dry chilies, garlic, shallots, lime juice and often some kind of fish or shrimp paste.

Nam phrik type sauces are normally served on small saucers placed by the main dish as a condiment or dip for bland preparations, such as raw or boiled greens, fish, poultry and meats.

Depending on the type, the region and the family that prepares it, nam phrik may vary in texture from a liquid to a paste to an almost dry, granular, or powdery consistency.

[2] The first Westerner to report of nam phrik was Simon de la Loubère, a French ambassador to the court of Ayutthaya.

He wrote that "the majority of Thai people lives on rice, dried fish, bananas, soft shoots of trees, cress and other aquatic plants which they soak in a spicy sauce called nam phrik.