Bird's-eye chilli noun

The small, fiercely hot chilli of Thai home cooking, used fresh, dried and in pastes.

Sharp, clean, fast-building heat with a grassy freshness; the red ones are slightly sweeter.

Slice into dipping sauces (nam pla prik), pound into pastes, or drop whole into soups to perfume without fully committing the heat. A little goes a long way; start with one.

Chillies reached Thailand through Portuguese trade in the sixteenth century and were adopted so completely that Thai food is unimaginable without them. The bird's-eye is the everyday variety; larger, milder spur chillies (prik chee fah) are used for colour.