Most Isaan dishes served with sticky rice and are characterized by fiery chilies, strong fish sauces, sour bites, and flavorful saucy mixtures. Many dishes are prepared as salads with a spicy and sour (also fishy) sauce, convenient to be used as dipping sauces for balls of sticky rice. Some of the sauces are notorious for being pungent and smelly or even giving “tong sia,” stomach aches.