In times past, there was a Burmese man whose name was Ong Mong. He cooked northern Thai noodles (Khanom jeen Nam Ngiao), and always pounded the ingredients in a mortar and pestle. While he was preparing roasted onion and peppers, his child was crying because of hunger. He tried to stop his child from crying, but the little boy wouldn't stop. As a consequence,he became angry and he took the cooked past of the northern noodle dish, which wasn't done yet, to feed his child. Because the food was very spicy, Ong Mong ate it with vegetabls. This seemed to make the taste better. He really liked it and distributed it to his neighbors. They also liked the paste of Ong Mong and they called it "Nam prik Pu Ong". The name was changed to "Nam Prik Ong" which is shorter and the and people used habitually.