Sauces and Dips thai food

Foreigners who have just come to Thailand are often baffled by the array of small bowls, each containing different colored sauces, laid out for a typical Thai meal.
At a typical Thai dinner, there are many sauces and dips on the table, sometimes they are more than the main dishes. Thais like tasty food and believe in satisfying everybody individual taste. So although the main dishes are already prepared to the cook's satisfaction, each person is still allowed leeway to season some more with a good range of sauces and dips.
 

1. Dry chilli powder	2. Vinegar with chilli pieces
3. Vinegar with chilli powder	4. Sugar

At a noodle shop, you may see this common scene. At each table there is a set of four containers which Thais call Khrueng Phuang or ring of spices. After being served their hot bowl of noodles, nine out of ten Thais will automatically reach out for these condiments, spoon in some fish sauce, a bit or small spoon of sugar or chili powder and toss in a small spoon of pickled chilies in vinegar all this before having had their first taste. Then, after taking a few more mouthfuls, some may continue to season a few more times during the course of the meal. And as any Thai will confirm, it is the last few mouthfuls that are indeed the most delicious. Then it's time to order another bowl and start the seasoning process all over again.
The ring of condiments which contains fish sauce, sugar, vinegar and chili powder, mirrors the four tastes that form the basis of all Thai sauces and dips. The salty flavour comes through with the use of fish sauce or soy sauce. The sour taste comes from vinegar, lime or tamarind juice. The sweetness comes from sugar. And the spicy hot comes from chilli peppers, garlic and ginger root.
Thailand has a wide variety of chilli peppers. Most commonly used are the tiny but fiery phrik khi nu, the equally potent larger phrik lueng (yellow chili) and the larger red and green varieties called phrik chi fa, which are a little milder.

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