How Ba Mii is Made
Ba mii are wheat noodles usually made with egg, as in this case at this hundred-year-old shophouse in Bangkok’s Chinatown. The process, essentially the same as that of Italian pasta, has been perfected over generations by the family who runs this factory and makes ba mii fresh every day.
1 A simple dough is rolled into long sheets by a machine like the one you might use at home for pasta, only much bigger.
2 The sheets are then run through a machine with a cutting die to make long, continuous strands and coiled into large piles.
3 The long strands are portioned into small coils by simply breaking the strands by hand at the appropriate length.
4 The portions are put into bags and weighed.
5 The bags of finished noodles are sorted into boxes for delivery.
Yam MAMA
INSTANT RAMEN NOODLE SALAD
ยำมาม่า
Instant noodles wind up practically everywhere regular noodles do, and even occasionally where they don’t. For instance, I’ve seen people crunch into them straight from the bag. It’s no shocker, then, that the beloved product—called MAMA in Thai, in reference to the best-known brand—makes great fodder for yam. Yam is often translated as “salad,” and while the English word does the trick, it doesn’t do much justice in describing the room-temperature jumbles of vegetables, herbs, and proteins dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, and chiles. When MAMA enters the fray, yam becomes a hearty snack to share while you booze, the heat and salt compelling another swig, and then another.
Makes 1 plate (2 to 4 servings, as part of a meal)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Hot, sour, salty, a little sweet
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
14 g / 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved lengthwise
6 g / 4 stemmed fresh or frozen Thai chiles (preferably green)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (preferably from Key limes or from regular [Persian] limes with a squeeze of Meyer lemon juice)
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp Naam Cheuam Naam Taan Piip (Palm Sugar Simple Syrup; this page)
1 (60 g) package Thai instant ramen (such as MAMA brand), seasoning powder and seasoning paste discarded
2 oz / 4 medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 oz Vietnamese pork roll, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into ⅛-inch-thick slices
2 oz / ¼ cup thinly sliced (¼ inch; with the grain) yellow onion
2 oz / 5 (1-inch) cored tomato wedges
3 g / ¼ cup small mint leaves
8 g / 2 tbsp sliced (¼ inch) green onion
4 g / 2 tbsp very roughly chopped Chinese celery (thin stems and leaves)
2 g / 1 tbsp very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, pound the garlic and chiles in a mortar to a very coarse paste, about 1 minute. Transfer 12 g / 1 tbsp of the mixture (or more to taste) to a medium saucepan, add the lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar simple syrup and stir well.
When the water comes to a boil, put the instant ramen, shrimp, and pork roll in the noodle basket and submerge the contents in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks to separate the noodles, until the shrimp are cooked and the noodles are fully tender (not al dente), about 2 minutes. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and set aside.
Set the saucepan with the garlic-chile mixture over medium heat and heat until the mixture is just warm to the touch, 15 seconds or so. Turn off the heat and add the noodles, shrimp, and pork roll to the saucepan, then the yellow onion, tomato, mint, green onion, Chinese celery, and cilantro. Toss well and transfer the salad (including all of the dressing) to a plate in a low heap. Serve right away.
Yam Kuay Chap
ROLLED NOODLE SALAD
ยำก๋วยจั๊บ
When you go to a place specializing in yam, you have options. Arrayed in front of the vendor are containers filled with the components used to make this category of Central Thai dish. Sometimes, customers select from a litany of standards, including yam fronted by poached squid, pomelo segments, or glass noodles. Sometimes, with the vendor’s tacit blessing, they go their own route, selecting various components and rebuffing others until they’ve essentially invented a new yam on the spot.
My recipe for yam kuay chap shares this spirit of creation. It follows the formula for classic yam—the thrilling dressing, the vibrant mixture of vegetables, like tomatoes and shallots, and herbs, like cilantro and Chinese celery—but welcomes as its main ingredient a noodle better known for its presence in kuay chap (see this page), a peppery offal soup found in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Made from mung bean starch or rice flour and cut into squares, the noodles curl into tubes when soaked, which helps them hold on to the fiery, tart, sweet dressing. When cooked, they have a slick, chewy quality that makes for good eating.
Makes 1 plate (2 to 4 servings, as part of a meal)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Hot, sour, salty
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE PREP
2¼ oz / 3 cups sen kuay chap (dried bean sheet noodles)
1½ tsp neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
2 oz ground pork
3 oz / 6 medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
14 g / 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved lengthwise
6 g / 4 stemmed fresh or frozen Thai chiles (preferably green)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (preferably from Key limes or from regular [Persian] limes with a squeeze of Meyer lemon juice)
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp Naam Cheuam Naam Taan Piip (Palm Sugar Simple Syrup; this page)
THE DISH
28 g / 2 cherry tomatoes, halved
8 g / ½ cup lightly packed torn (2-inch pieces) green-leaf or iceberg lettuce
18 g / 2 tbsp thinly sliced (with the grain) shallot (preferably Asian)
8 g / ¼ cup very roughly chopped Chinese celery (thin stems and leaves)
4 g / 1 tbsp sliced (¼ inch) green onion
2 g / 1 tbsp very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Prep the Dish
In a large bowl, combine the noodles and enough lukewarm (about 100°F) water to cover by an inch or so. Let soak for 5 minutes, occasionally using your hands to make sure the noodles don’t stick together. The noodles will curl to form a tubular shape. Drain well.
Meanwhile, line a plate with paper towels and set it near the stove.
Set a flat-bottomed wok over high heat and heat until it begins to smoke lightly. Add the oil and swirl the wok to coat the sides. Add the pork and shrimp and cook, flipping and breaking up the pork and flipping the shrimp, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the prepared plate.
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, pound the garlic and chiles in a mortar to a very coarse paste, about 1 minute. Transfer 12 g / 1 tbsp of the mixture (or more to taste) to a medium saucepan, then add the pork, shrimp, lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar simple syrup.
Put the soaked noodles in the noodle basket and submerge them in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks, until the noodles are fully cooked (they’ll still be chewy), about 1 minute. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and set aside.
Make the Dish
Set the saucepan with the garlic-chile paste and other ingredients over medium heat and heat, stirring once or twice, just until warm to the touch, 15 to 30 seconds. Turn off the heat, add the tomatoes, and briefly but firmly press on them with a wok spatula to release some of their juice.
Add the noodles, lettuce, shallot, Chinese celery, and green onion. Toss well and transfer the salad (including all of the dressing) to a plate in a low heap. Top with the cilantro. Serve right away.
Buu Op Wun Sen
CRAB AND GLASS NOODLES IN A CLAY POT
ปูอบวุ้นเส้น
Unlike many noodle dishes, this is not street-stall fare. It’s the kind of dish you’ll find in the Chinese seafood restaurants of Thailand, primarily those in urban centers or near beaches. Sharing space on tables with grilled prawns, steamed whole fish, and curry powder–tinted jumbles of shell-on crustaceans stir-fried with egg, you’ll often find buu op wun sen, relatively unassuming in a covered pot.
Raise the lid at the table and you’re hit with the fragrance of Chinese celery or green onion, black or Sichuan peppercorns, and buu (crab) or kung (shrimp). Inside the pot are layers—sea creature, then glass noodles stained from soy and oyster sauces, then slices of pork belly that cling to the scalding bottom of the pot. There are often some Thai elements, too, like cilantro root among the aromatics and tart, fiery dipping sauce for the seafood. After all, while this might essentially be Chinese food, it’s often tweaked for the local palate.
The noodles in this dish are neither stir-fried nor boiled. Essentially, they’re baked—cooked in a covered vessel over glowing coals whose heat envelops its bottom and sides. The belly browns, the noodles absorb flavorful liquid, and the seafood steams. If you’ve found a first-rate practitioner, the vessel is likely made of porous clay and the flame comes from charcoal, so some of its smoky character seeps in as the dish cooks.
This is neither here nor there, but technically speaking, if I were to stick to the transliteration regimen I use throughout this book, the Thai word for “crab” would be rendered phonetically with Roman characters not as buu but as puu (indicating an unaspirated “p” sound). Here, however, I made an exception to head off an unfortunate corollary for English speakers both unfamiliar with the particulars of the Royal Thai General System of Transcription and in possession of juvenile minds.
Makes 1 plate (2 to 4 servings, as part of a meal)
Note
This dish tastes best cooked on a charcoal tao thaan (see this page). Prepare a medium fire in the tao as you would in a charcoal grill. (You can get away with cooking it on a gas stovetop over medium heat, as long as you use a cheap diffuser plate, which will give you a more even, radiant heat.)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Rich, salty, peppery
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE SAUCE
3 tbsp Naam Cheuam (Simple Syrup; this page)
3 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce
1½ tbsp Thai oyster sauce
1½ tbsp Thai seasoning sauce
1½ tbsp Shaoxing wine
1½ tbsp water
1½ tsp toasted sesame oil
THE DISH
3½ oz wun sen (dried glass noodles)
½ tsp Thai black soy sauce
9 g / 9 cilantro roots
1 g / ½ tsp whole black peppercorns, plus ¼ tsp coarsely cracked
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
4 oz / 1 cup thinly sliced (⅛ inch; with the grain) yellow onion
4 oz / 5 green onions, whites cut into 1½-inch lengths, greens cut into 2½-inch lengths
14 g / 2 tbsp julienned ginger
9 g / 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 oz skinless pork belly, cut against the grain into 2½ by ¼-inch-thick slices
1 small (about 6 oz) live crab, such as blue crab
Naam Jim Seafood (Spicy, Tart Dipping Sauce for Seafood; this page)
Make the Sauce
In an airtight container, combine the simple syrup, thin soy sauce, oyster sauce, seasoning sauce, wine, water, and sesame oil and stir well. You’ll have about ¾ cup. Reserve 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp for this dish. The remaining sauce will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 6 months.
Make the Dish
In a medium bowl, combine the noodles and enough lukewarm (about 100°F) water to cover by an inch or so. Let soak until they’re very pliable, about 8 minutes. Drain them well, then snip into about 4-inch lengths. In a medium bowl, toss the noodles with the black soy sauce until the noodles are an even amber color.
In a mortar, pound the cilantro roots, whole peppercorns, and salt to a coarse paste, about 30 seconds. In a flat-bottomed wok or skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 tbsp of the oil until it shimmers, turn the heat to medium, and add the yellow onion, the white parts of the green onions, the ginger, garlic, and cilantro root paste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the yellow onion has wilted slightly, about 1½ minutes. Turn off the heat.
Pour the remaining 1 tsp oil into a 1-quart clay pot and rub to coat the bottom and sides. Line the bottom of the pot with the pork belly in a single layer, then add the onion mixture in an even layer.
Kill the crab quickly by putting it shell-side down on a cutting board, with the eyes facing you, and, aiming between the eyes, firmly whack it with the top 2 inches or so of the blade of a meat cleaver. Now it’s dead. Yank off the triangular flap from the bottom of the crab. Pry off the top shell, then pull off and discard the feathery gills. Cut the crab in half through the head and use the back of the cleaver or a pestle to strike the thick legs and claws to crack them slightly. Rinse the crab halves under cold running water, shake to drain, then add them to the clay pot in a single layer.
Add the noodles to the pot in an even layer and drizzle on the reserved 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp sauce. Top with the green parts of the green onions and sprinkle on the cracked peppercorns. Cover the pot with the lid.
Put the clay pot, covered, onto the tao (or stovetop) and cook, preferably without lifting the lid, until the noodles and the crab are completely cooked, 10 to 12 minutes. You won’t be able to tell until you stir, but the pork belly should be slightly caramelized. If it’s not, then use a slightly higher heat the next time you make the dish. Remove the lid at the table to release the aroma. Stir well, then serve with the spicy, tart dipping sauce for seafood alongside.
Ba Mii Yok Haeng
JADE NOODLES WITH PORK AND CHINESE BROCCOLI
บะหมี่หยกแห้ง
If you’re Thai or if you have whiled away much of your thirties and forties in Thailand, these striking noodles probably bring to mind MK Restaurants, an international chain with more than two hundred locations in Bangkok alone. While MK is best known for sukii (see this page), the Thai riff on the Japanese cook-it-yourself hot pot, you’ll also find its tables covered with bowls of thin green noodles topped with roast duck. The noodles—once stained green with pandan leaf but nowadays typically dyed with food coloring—provide an alternative to the rice offered by most Chinese restaurants specializing in barbecued meats. At its best, this dish features a soy sauce slick for the noodles and a lardy mixture of fried garlic and pork cracklings on top.
Roasted duck does make a fine topping, but I couldn’t adequately guide you through the process of making it. I do, however, have a grasp on two porcine preparations—the ruddy lacquered muu daeng (roasted pork) and the crunchy muu krob (fried pork)—that are also served to great effect on jade noodles. So here you are. For the pork, there’s no shame in leaning on your local Chinatown’s preeminent meat-hanging-in-the-window joint. For the noodles, there’s no harm in using standard-issue ba mii (fresh thin wheat noodles), if you can’t find the green stuff nearby in the fridge section.
Makes 1 bowl (1 serving)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Fatty, umami-rich, salty
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce–Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE GARLICKY LARD
½ cup Naam Man Muu (Rendered Pork Fat; this page, or use store-bought)
1¼ oz/ ¼ cup finely chopped (⅛ inch) garlic
8 g / ¼ cup crumbled (about ¼ inch) Khaep Muu (Pork Cracklings; this page, or use store-bought)
THE BOWL
1 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce
2 g / ½ tsp granulated sugar
2 g / ½ tsp MSG (optional)
Generous pinch of finely ground Asian white pepper
THE DISH
2½ oz / 1 cup lightly packed ba mii yok (fresh jade noodles)
2 oz / 1 cup packed diagonally sliced Chinese broccoli, stems in long (2-inch), thin (⅛-inch) pieces, leaves whole
2½ oz / 4 to 6 slices (¼ inch thick; against the grain) Muu Daeng (Chinese-Style BBQ Pork; this page), at room temperature
2½ oz / 4 to 6 slices (¼ inch thick; against the grain) Muu Krob (Crispy Pork Belly; this page), at room temperature
Generous pinch of finely ground Asian white pepper
4 g / 1 tbsp sliced (¼ inch) green onions
Naam Jim Si Ew Dam Phrik Sot (Black Soy–Chile Dipping Sauce; this page)
Suggested khruang phrung
Make the Garlicky Lard
Put the pork fat in a small saucepan and set over high heat. When it’s hot, add the garlic, turn the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring once or twice, until the garlic is light golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the pork cracklings, and set aside. The garlicky lard will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Gently reheat to liquefy the lard before using.
Prep the Bowl
In a wide soup bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar, MSG, and pepper and stir well.
Make the Dish
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Put the noodles in the basket and submerge them in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks, until the noodles are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and dump the contents into the prepared bowl.
Put the Chinese broccoli in the noodle basket and submerge the broccoli in the water. Cook until tender but still crunchy, about 30 seconds. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and dump the broccoli into the prepared bowl.
Top the bowl with 1 tbsp of the fried garlicky lard solids, 1 tbsp of the garlicky lard liquid, and the pepper. Add the Chinese-style bbq pork and crispy pork belly, and sprinkle on the green onions, Serve with the black soy–chile dipping sauce and suggested khruang phrung alongside. Stir very well before eating.
Kuaytiaw Lat Na
NOODLES WITH GRAVY
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวราดหน้า
I ate this version of lat na the first time my friend Lakhana invited me over for lunch. She is responsible for many of my early eating epiphanies in Thailand, but, until then, these had been confined to markets and restaurants that served food I had never seen at the beach resorts down south, let alone the Thai restaurants back home.
She had talked up her rendition of lat na, and I was eager to try it, though I had eaten enough versions of the dish by then to be skeptical. Common in homes and at dedicated purveyors, as well from vendors who specialize in phat si ew (which shares several raw ingredients with lat na), the dish never captured my attention like so many other noodles dishes had. The average street-vendor version was noodles, strips of pork, and a piece or two of yu choy topped with a clear, viscous gravy whose only seasoning seemed to be MSG.
My impression changed after I made the drive from Chiang Mai to the Northern Thailand countryside to join Lakhana and her family at their sixty-year-old teak house in the sleepy village of Ban Saluang Nai. While Lakhana’s lat na took the familiar form, it was full of flavor, seasoned robustly with soy sauce, rich from pork stock and egg, and generous with the vegetable matter. She served hers with fresh, wide rice noodles that she tossed with black soy sauce and then charred in a wok with a little pork fat for added texture and flavor.
This lat na recipe lets you forgo some of the fuss of the other recipes in this book, which attempt to adapt restaurant methods to work in a home kitchen. Whenever I make it for friends, I serve it as Lakhana did that day in Saluang: a plate of noodles for each guest and a pot of gravy on the table so people can help themselves.
If you wish, you can switch up the noodles as some vendors do, swapping in mii krob (thin wheat noodles deep-fried to a crunch) and, less common but no less delicious, fresh wide rice noodles deep-fried in pork fat until they bubble, puff, and crisp. They all have their pleasures, so I provide them all here.
Makes 6 bowls (6 servings)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Rich, umami-forward, salty
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce–Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE GRAVY
3 tbsp thin soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
14 g / 1 tbsp drained salted yellow beans, rinsed
13 g / 1 tbsp granulated sugar
5 g / 1 tsp MSG (optional)
¼ tsp finely ground Asian white pepper
2 tbsp Naam Man Muu (Rendered Pork Fat; this page, or use store-bought) or neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
36 g / ¼ cup thinly sliced small Asian shallots
24 g / 8 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed into small pieces in a mortar
1 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2 by ¾ by ⅛-inch strips
6 oz / 3 cups packed roughly chopped (2 inches) yu choy
3 cups Naam Sup Muu (Pork Stock; this page)
30 g / ¼ cup tapioca starch
2 tbsp water
2 eggs, at room temperature
THE BOWLS (SEN YAI VERSION)
36 oz / 9 cups sen yai (fresh wide rice noodles; 1½ inch wide)
2 tbsp Thai black soy sauce
3 tbsp Naam Man Muu (Rendered Pork Fat; this page, or use store-bought) or neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
THE BOWLS (MII KROB VERSION)
Neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran, for deep-frying
9 oz / 2¼ cups packed thin ba mii (fresh yellow Chinese wheat noodles)
THE BOWLS (“SINGAPORE-STYLE” VERSION)
Neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran, for deep-frying
18 oz / 4½ cups sen yai (fresh wide rice noodles; 1½ inches wide)
TO SERVE
6 tbsp Naam Man Krathiam Jiaw (Fried Garlic in Garlic Oil; this page), solids only, or Naam Man Hom Jiaw (Fried Shallots in Shallot Oil; this page), solids only
Suggested khruang phrung
Make the Gravy
In a small bowl, combine the thin soy sauce, fish sauce, yellow beans, sugar, MSG, and pepper. Stir well and set aside.
In a medium pot over medium-low heat, heat the pork fat until it shimmers. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and light brown in spots, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn the heat to very high, then add the pork and cook, stirring and flipping frequently, until the pork is light brown in spots, about 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and stir well, then add the yu choy and stir well. Add the pork stock, let it come to a boil, and cook, stirring, until the yu choy stems are tender, about 1 minute.
In a small bowl, combine the tapioca starch and water and stir until smooth. Slowly drizzle the mixture into the pot, whisking while you do. The sauce will thicken to a viscous gravy. Lower the heat to low and simmer gently for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Keep warm.
Right before you serve, bring the gravy to a simmer. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl. Very slowly drizzle the eggs into the bubbling liquid in a circular motion, wait until the eggs set, about 30 seconds, then gently and briefly stir. Cover to keep warm.
For the Sen Yai Version
In a medium bowl, combine the noodles and black soy sauce and toss to coat well.
Cook the noodles in three batches. For each batch, set a flat-bottomed wok over very high heat and heat until it begins to smoke lightly. Add 1 tbsp of the pork fat or oil and swirl the wok to coat the sides. Add 12 oz / 3 cups noodles to the wok, spread them out slightly, and cook, stirring but not flipping, until they begin to char on the bottom, about 30 seconds. Flip the noodles and stir-fry, constantly stirring, scooping, and flipping them, until they’re slightly charred in spots, about 45 seconds more. Split the noodles between two serving bowls and cook the rest.
For the Mii Krob and “Singapore-Style” Versions
Line a large sheet pan with fresh paper towels or newspaper and set it near the stove.
Pour 3 inches of oil into a medium pot, set the pot over high heat, and bring the oil to 375°F. Use a thermometer to take the temperature, measuring the oil at the center of the vessel and carefully stirring occasionally to ensure a consistent temperature.
Working in 42 g / ⅓-cup batches of the thin wheat noodles or 3 oz / ¾-cup batches of the wide rice noodles, carefully add the noodles to the oil and cook, using a spider to gently flip the cluster once or twice, until the noodles are puffed and crunchy all the way through, about 25 seconds for the wheat noodles and 1 to 1½ minutes for the rice noodles. (If the noodles don’t puff up almost immediately, increase the oil temperature slightly before frying the next batch.)
Transfer the cluster to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining noodles, letting the oil return to 375°F between batches. Transfer the noodles to serving bowls.
Serve the Dish
Bring the bowls of noodles and pot of gravy to the table. Divide the gravy over the noodles in each bowl and top with the fried garlic in garlic oil. Serve with the khruang phrung alongside.
Kuaytiaw Neua Sap
RICE NOODLES WITH GROUND BEEF, TOMATO, AND ONION “GRAVY”
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเนื้อสับ
Nowadays, you don’t often see kuaytiaw neua sap, wide rice noodles covered in a gravy-like mixture of ground beef, onion, and tomatoes, in Thailand. Odds are you won’t spot it in the pots at the corner noodle shops, with their squat plastic stools and folding tables spilling onto the sidewalk, or among the clusters of night-market vendors, with their woks set over propane-fueled burners. In fact, I’ve only seen it in one genre of restaurant the increasingly scarce diner run by Chinese cooks who once worked in the homes of Brits living abroad.
More typical in former British colonies, which Thailand is not, these restaurants were once fairly common in Bangkok. They’re places where your meal might come with sliced white bread and butter. Where tables might sport bottles of Worcestershire rather than fish sauce. Where you can order the kind of food these cooks might have made for their old employers—pork chops with tinned peas, stewed tongue in gravy (also with tinned peas), and phat macaroni (see this page).
Like these dishes, kuaytiaw neua sap reflects a sort of fusion, a delicious melding of East and West born of practicality. It features a slurried texture thickened with starch, the umami bump from fish and soy sauces, and rice noodles—all familiar to fans of Chinese and Thai cookery—but also a subdued flavor, curry powder (the British approximation of a South Asian spice blend), and, yes, the occasional addition of tinned peas. Note that these noodles, like those for kuaytiaw khua pet (see this page) and phat macaroni, are served over lettuce. While it might seem strange to the uninitiated, the addition of uncooked lettuce, typically iceberg, is common to many noodle dishes served in Thailand’s Chinatowns. And while lettuce isn’t typically eaten raw in China, the vegetable has been cultivated there for well over a thousand years. Whatever the reason, the addition is good, not mere garnish, and should not be omitted.
Makes 6 plates (6 servings)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Rich, umami-forward, salty, slightly tart
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE GRAVY
2 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
42 g / 14 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed into small pieces in a mortar
12 oz lean ground beef
5 oz / 1 cup diced (½ inch) yellow onion
1 lb / 2 cups roughly chopped (½ to ¾ inch) cored tomatoes
4 cups Naam Sup Muu (Pork Stock; this page), warm
3 tbsp Thai oyster sauce
1½ tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce
1 tbsp Thai seasoning sauce
13 g / 1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 g / ½ tsp finely ground Asian white pepper
1 g / ½ tsp curry powder
1 g / ¼ tsp MSG (optional)
2¼ oz / ½ cup tapioca starch
¼ cup water
THE DISH
36 oz / 9 cups sen yai (fresh wide rice noodles; about 1½ inches wide)
2 tbsp Thai black soy sauce
12 oz / 6 cups lightly packed torn (2-inch pieces) green-leaf or iceberg lettuce
3 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
12 g / 6 tbsp very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Suggested khruang phrung
Make the Gravy
In a medium pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until it’s golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat to high, add the beef, and cook, stirring and breaking up any clumps, until it’s more or less cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, pork stock, oyster sauce, fish sauce, thin soy sauce, seasoning sauce, sugar, pepper, curry powder, and MSG to the pot. Bring everything to a boil and boil until the tomatoes have begun to break down and the liquid has reduced by about one-third, about 20 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the tapioca starch and water and stir until smooth. While whisking, slowly drizzle about half of the mixture into the pot. The sauce will thicken to a viscous gravy. Gradually add more of the tapioca starch mixture if need be. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute more, then turn off the heat. Cover to keep warm.
Make the Dish
In a large mixing bowl, combine the noodles and black soy sauce and toss to coat well. Put 2 oz / 1 cup lettuce on each of six serving plates.
Cook the noodles in three batches. Set a flat-bottomed wok over very high heat and heat until it smokes lightly. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and swirl the wok to coat the sides. Add 12 oz / 3 cups noodles to the wok, spread them out slightly, and cook, stirring but not flipping, until they begin to char on the bottom, about 30 seconds. Flip the noodles and cook, stirring but not flipping, until they’re charred in spots, about 45 seconds more. Split the noodles between two of the prepared plates and cook the rest.
Bring the plates of noodles and pot of gravy to the table. Invite guests to ladle ¾ to 1 cup of the gravy over the noodles in each plate and top with 2 g / 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with the khruang phrung alongside.
Khao Soi Neua
MUSLIM-STYLE KHAO SOI WITH BEEF
ข้าวซอยเนื้อ
Khao soi has been having something of a moment in the US of late. The coconut milk–spiked curry with egg noodles, both boiled and fried, is perhaps the first Northern Thai dish to break the hegemony of Central and Isaan food in stateside Thai restaurants. Now, not only can plenty of American diners pick the once-obscure regional dish out of a lineup, but they can also recommend several nearby restaurants that serve it. This is good news for any fan of food. Here’s more There’s another killer category of khao soi you may not have encountered.
In fact, the bowl that got me hooked on the dish in the first place belongs to this category. Twenty-five years ago, when I was an itinerant line cook and musician with a travel bug and a bit more hair on my head, a trip to Chiang Mai to visit my friends Chris and Lakhana brought me face-to-face with a bowl of beige broth dappled with globules of ruddy oil and topped with crunchy noodles. As I explored with my chopsticks, I found, submerged, egg noodles and bone-in chicken. As I saw Chris and Lakhana supplement their bowls with a squeeze of lime, pieces of raw shallots, chopped pickled greens, and ominously dark chile paste, I followed their lead. In minutes, our bowls were empty except for a layer of grit clinging to the sides—the remains of ground spices and onion—an attribute I’d later aspire to once I learned to make the dish myself.
Only after I’d sampled many bowls over many years did I realize that my first khao soi was distinct from those turned out by most khao soi operations in Chiang Mai and beyond. The prevailing version, or what I like to think of as the Thai version, is made from a paste of aromatics that conjures the fusion of flavors particular to the north of the country. It contains ingredients associated with Thai cooking, like lemongrass and galangal; Chinese cooking, like ginger and black cardamom; and Burmese cooking, like curry powder and turmeric. Fried in oil, then simmered in coconut milk and topped with coconut cream, however, the paste results in a concoction reminiscent of a Central Thai curry in form, if not entirely in flavor. It’s the version I originally aimed to replicate at Pok Pok, in part because it was the version my culinary mentors knew best and the one I thought would most appeal to Westerners new to the dish.
Yet while my first bowl contained many of the same elements, the curry was decidedly different—its flavor defined more by dried spices and onions than by galangal and lemongrass, the meat stewed without coconut milk. Those differences might seem subtle on paper but they’re dramatic on the spoon.
Over the years, I began to recognize that these features were common to bowls made by Muslim cooks in Chiang Mai. At their shops throughout the city, their denomination is often discernable by signage bearing a star and crescent, employees wearing headscarves or beards, or, occasionally, in the case of Khao Soi Islam, thought to be the oldest restaurant in the city to serve the dish, the name of the establishment itself. And by the food on the menus, too, which, besides khao soi, often includes kaeng neua (essentially “beef curry”) and khao mok kai, a plate of spiced rice that looks unmistakably like biryani. A few of these operations cluster along the street nicknamed Soi Islam, a bustling stretch near one of the city’s four mosques and a stroll away from a market known for its concentration of vendors of Jiin Haw descent.
The Jiin Haw are Muslims originally from Yunnan who traveled as merchants to Thailand centuries ago. Incidentally, most theories have it that the Jiin Haw brought khao soi to Chiang Mai by way of the caravan routes that cut through present-day Burma. The details are, as usual, lost to time. No one can be sure whether the dish originated in China (in Thai, khao soi literally means “sliced rice” and may refer to the rice noodles once peddled by Jiin Haw vendors); was picked up en route (there’s a similar Burmese dish called ohn-hno hkauk hswe; the final two words are a generic term for noodles and, rendered in Thai phonetics, sound like khao soi); or was hatched in Chiang Mai.
Even after all this time, my preferred bowl of khao soi comes from the same restaurant where I first tried the dish: Khao Soi Prince, once located in front of Prince Royal College and now located near Maejo University in San Sai, Chiang Mai. Worakarn “Keng” and Busarin “Amm” Yu Yang Thai run the modest place. Their khao soi is a marvel, the curry subtly spiced and barely sweet, the noodles made on the premises and excellent, each bowl finished at the last minute with a spoonful of warm coconut cream. Today, my choice of meat there, and at most Muslim-run joints, is beef, in this case shin simmered until its flavor melds with the curry and the chunks are tender with a slight chew.
The recipe in this book is modeled on this type of khao soi in general and theirs in particular. It is the product of extensive and perhaps excessive consumption of the dish. It is informed by conversations in spice shops and at markets and among opinionated friends in Chiang Mai. Compared to the flawless rendition at Khao Soi Prince, mine is a bit more liberal with the dried spices and less delicate in flavor, but otherwise similar and quite good to eat. It takes time and effort to make, no doubt. So get to it.
Makes 4 bowls (4 servings)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Rich, a little salty, warm-dry-spice–forward
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Thai fish sauce
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE PREP
8 g coriander seeds (preferably Asian)
4 g fennel seeds
2 g cumin seeds
3 g black peppercorns
1 g whole cloves
1 g whole star anise
1 blade mace
1 pod black cardamom, smashed, pod discarded, and seeds reserved
1 pod white cardamom (preferably from China or Thailand), smashed, pod discarded, and seeds reserved
2 g cinnamon (cassia) stick
1 g finely grated whole nutmeg
2 g ground turmeric
12 oz yellow onion, chopped into 1-inch pieces
50 g garlic cloves, peeled
2 g dried puya chiles, split open, seeded, and soaked in hot tap water until fully soft, about 20 minutes
20 g peeled fresh or thawed frozen galangal, thinly sliced against the grain
15 g peeled ginger, thinly sliced against the grain
20 g kosher salt
28 g thinly sliced lemongrass, tender parts only (from about 4 large stalks)
THE CURRY
¼ cup neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
1½ lb boneless beef shank or chuck, silver skin removed, cut against the grain into pieces 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and ¼ inch thick (for shank) or ½ inch thick (for chuck)
40 g / 2 tbsp packed Naam Taan Piip (Softened Palm Sugar; this page; preferably Thai)
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp Thai thin soy sauce
2¾ cups water
THE DISH
Neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran, for deep-frying
11 oz / 6 cups flat, ba mii (fresh, yellow Chinese wheat noodles)
¾ cup unsweetened coconut cream (preferably boxed), gently warmed
ACCOMPANIMENTS
Drained, chopped (½ inch) Phak Dong (Pickled Mustard Greens; this page; stems preferred for their crunch; if store-bought, soak in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain well)
Small shallot wedges (¼ inch; preferably Asian)
Naam Phrik Phao (Roasted-Chile Paste; this page)
Halved Key limes or regular (Persian) lime wedges
Very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Suggested khruang phrung
Prep the Curry
In a small pan, combine the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, star anise, mace, black cardamom, white cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and tossing often, until the spices are very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let the spices cool slightly, then grind them in a spice grinder to a fine powder. Scoop the powder into a bowl, stir in the turmeric, and set aside.
In a blender or food processor, combine the onion and garlic and process to a fine, thick sludge. Set aside.
Drain the chiles well, then wrap them in paper towels and gently wring out the water. Pound the chiles to a fairly smooth paste in a mortar, about 2 minutes. Add the galangal, ginger, and salt and pound to a fairly smooth paste, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemongrass and pound until you have a fairly smooth, slightly fibrous paste, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
Make the Curry
In a 3- to 4-quart pot over medium heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the ground spice mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until very aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the galangal paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it loses its raw smell, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high, add the beef, and cook, stirring to coat it well, for 3 minutes. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, and thin soy sauce and cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Add the onion sludge and cook, stirring frequently, until it loses its raw taste and smell, about 5 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the water, stir, and let the mixture come to a simmer. Cover the pot, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is fairly tender, about 1 hour for shank and 30 to 40 minutes for chuck.
You can cover the curry and keep it warm on the stove for up to 2 hours, or you can let it cool and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. (It’ll get even better if you store it, as the flavors will meld and the meat will soak up some of the curry.) Bring it to a very gentle simmer right before serving to make sure the beef is heated through.
Finish the Dish
Line a large plate with paper towels or newspaper and set it near the stove.
Pour 3 inches of oil into a wide, large pot, set the pot over medium-high heat, and heat the oil to 350°F. Use a thermometer to take the temperature, measuring the oil at the center of the vessel and carefully stirring the oil occasionally to ensure a consistent temperature. Put 2 oz / 1 cup of the noodles on a plate and gently toss them so there are no clumps. In four 14 g / ¼-cup batches, transfer the noodles to the pot and fry, turning them once, just until they are golden brown and crunchy, 20 to 30 seconds per batch. Transfer the fried noodles to the prepared plate to drain and cool. They’ll keep like this for a couple of hours or in an airtight container in a dry place for a few days.
When you’re nearly ready to serve the curry, fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Make one bowl at a time by putting 2¼ oz / 1¼ cups noodles in the basket and submerging the noodles in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks, until the noodles are fully tender (not al dente), 2 to 3 minutes. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and dump the contents into a serving bowl. To the bowl, add 2¾ oz / 8 to 10 pieces of beef, ladle on about 1 cup of the curry, spoon on 3 tbsp of the warm coconut cream, and top with a nest of fried noodles. Repeat for the remaining bowls.
Serve with the accompaniments and khruang phrung alongside. Invite guests to add these ingredients to their bowls to taste and stir well before eating.
Khao Soi Naam Naa
TAI LEU–STYLE NOODLES WITH PORK, TOMATO, AND FERMENTED SOYBEAN
ข้าวซอยน้ำหน้า
In the US, as well as in and around Chiang Mai, khao soi has come to refer to a particular dish coconut-spiked curry, marked by a complex paste made with myriad fresh and dried ingredients, and egg noodles, both boiled and fried. Yet when my wife, Kung, was growing up in Chiang Khong, in Chiang Rai Province, khao soi referred to the noodle soup you see here—a dish I’ve enjoyed primarily in the uppermost reaches of Thailand, including in Kung’s hometown and other towns that abut the border with Burma and mostly from the pots of Tai Leu people, a Thai ethnic minority.
Compared with the version common in Chiang Mai, which people from Kung’s neck of the woods call khao soi kathi (khao soi with coconut milk), khao soi naam naa is downright plain. Fresh medium-width rice noodles join stock flavored with a mixture of ground pork, tomato, dried chiles, and thua nao khaep, fermented soybeans sun-dried in disks (and adequately replaced in this recipe by a jarred product). These seasoning components, in case you’re keeping track, essentially add up to naam phrik ong, the Northern Thai relish served with cracklings and vegetables. Sure, it’s modest by contrast, but it’s well worth your time.
Makes 6 bowls (6 servings)
FLAVOR PROFILE
Tart, salty
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce–Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE PREP
1 g dried Thai chiles
3 g kosher salt
3 g cilantro roots
16 g garlic cloves, peeled and halved lengthwise
16 g small Asian shallots, peeled and thinly sliced against the grain
3 tbsp yellow bean sauce
8 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola, soybean, or rice bran
8 oz ground pork
THE BOWLS
6 tbsp Thai fish sauce
12 g / 1 tbsp MSG (optional, but highly recommended)
16½ oz / 7½ cups tightly packed semidried sen lek (thin, flat rice noodles), snipped into approximately 8-inch lengths
6 oz / 3 cups bean sprouts
9 cups Naam Sup Muu (Pork Stock; this page), hot
24 g / 6 tbsp sliced (¼ inch) green onion
12 g / 6 tbsp very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Suggested khruang phrung
Prep the Dish
In a mortar, combine the dried chiles and salt and pound firmly, scraping the mortar and stirring the mixture once or twice, until you have a fairly fine powder, about 3 minutes. Pound in the cilantro roots, occasionally stopping to scrape down the sides of the mortar, until you have a fairly smooth paste, about 2 minutes. Pound in the garlic, then the shallots, until you have a fairly coarse paste, about 5 minutes. Pound and stir in the yellow bean sauce to combine well. Transfer to a small bowl.
Pound the tomatoes briefly in the mortar so they give off some juice. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add all of the paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it is very fragrant and loses the smell of raw garlic and shallots, about 5 minutes. Add the pork, turn the heat to high, and cook, stirring constantly, until about half of the meat is just cooked (you’re not trying to brown it), about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and any juice in the mortar and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat as it cooks, for another minute. Cover the pot, adjust the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally to break up any meat clumps, until the tomatoes begin to break down and the mixture looks like a Bolognese sauce, very moist but still thick, 15 to 20 minutes. If it’s watery, remove the lid and cook off some of the liquid. You’ll have about 2 cups. (Fully cooled, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.)
Assemble the Bowls
In each of six wide soup bowls, combine 1 tbsp fish sauce and 2 g / ½ tsp MSG.
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Finish one bowl at a time (or two if you have two noodle baskets). Put 2¾ oz / 1¼ cups noodles and 1 oz / ½ cup bean sprouts in the basket and submerge the contents in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks, until the noodles are tender, about 1 minute. Firmly shake the basket to drain well and dump the contents into one of the prepared bowls.
Spoon ¼ cup of the pork mixture onto the noodles, then ladle 1½ cups of the hot stock into the bowl (but not over the pork mixture). Sprinkle on 4 g / 1 tbsp green onion and 2 g / 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with the khruang phrung alongside and get to work on the next bowl. Stir well before eating.
Kuaytiaw Haeng Neua Tuun
“DRY” STEWED BEEF NOODLES
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวแห้งเนื้อตุ๋น
Once upon a time, I couldn’t drive ten minutes in Northern Thailand without passing a stall on the side of the road selling these noodles topped with stewed beef. Nowadays, that’s true of the sweet-sour noodle soup called kuaytiaw tom yam. Kuaytiaw neua tuun, particularly a good rendition, has become a dish that requires seeking out.
That’s one reason why whenever I’m near the village of Ban Pong in the Mae Taeng District, where my friend and early culinary mentor Ajaan Sunee grew up, I make a detour for a bowl. I typically head straight to Kuaytiaw Pa Pai, where the chao baan (proprietor) runs the shop just as her mother did. Her version has no flourishes or innovations. It features the typical Thai way with stewed beef but has an exceptional subtlety of spice and a texture that hits the bull’s-eye between chewy and falling apart. Hers served as my model when I developed this recipe, which reflects the haeng (“dry”) style of serving. Rather than a lake of broth, just a splash moistens and flavors the noodles, along with fish sauce, sweet-bitter black soy sauce, and garlicky oil.
Scrupulous readers will note that this preparation is very similar to Kuaytiaw Kai Tuun (this page), yet with beef’s bolder flavor, and Kuaytiaw Reua Neua (this page), yet without the last-minute additions of grilled-chile vinegar and blood.
Makes 12 bowls (12 servings)
Note
In the course of stewing the beef, you will end up with about 9 cups of broth. This recipe is for a so-called “dry” noodle soup, so you might wonder what to do with this liquid. It can be used, in the context of this book, to serve alongside or to make the naam version of this noodle soup. Just ladle in 1 cup per bowl. Otherwise, you can use the delicious stuff for whatever purpose you want.
FLAVOR PROFILE
Salty, umami, a bit sweet
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce–Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE STEWED BEEF
28 g / 1 cup lightly packed very roughly chopped (3 inches) Chinese celery (stems and leaves)
28 g / ¼ cup thinly sliced (⅛ inch; against the grain) unpeeled fresh or thawed frozen galangal
4 oz / 3 large stalks lemongrass (outer layer, bottom 1 inch, and top 9 inches removed), bruised and sliced ½ inch thick
10 g / 10 cilantro roots, bruised
3 g / 1½-inch cinnamon (cassia) stick
1 g / 4 dried bay leaves
9 g / 1 tbsp black peppercorns
2 g / 2 whole star anise
12 cups water
2½ lb boneless beef shank or chuck, silver skin removed, cut against the grain into 2 by 1 by ¼-inch strips
¾ cup Thai thin soy sauce
2 tbsp Thai black soy sauce
2 oz / ¼ cup Chinese rock sugar
14 g / 2 fresh or thawed frozen pandan leaves, folded to fit in pot and tied into a bundle
THE BOWLS
6 cups stewed-beef broth, hot
4 tbsp Thai fish sauce
12 g MSG (optional)
72 oz / 12 cups sen yai (fresh rice noodles; 1½ inches wide)
60 oz / 12 cups packed, diagonally sliced Chinese broccoli, stems in long (2-inch), thin (⅛-inch) pieces, leaves whole
36 fresh or thawed frozen Luuk Chin Neua (Beef Balls; this page, or use store-bought), at room temperature
¾ cup Naam Man Krathiam Jiaw (Fried Garlic in Garlic Oil; this page), about half solids and half oil
¼ cup Thai black soy sauce
12 generous pinches of finely ground Asian white pepper
12 generous pinches of very roughly chopped Chinese celery (thin stems and leaves)
12 generous pinches of very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
12 generous pinches of thinly sliced (⅛ inch) sawtooth herb
Suggested khruang phrung
Make the Stewed Beef
On a large square of cheesecloth, combine the Chinese celery, galangal, lemongrass, cilantro roots, cinnamon, bay leaves, peppercorns, and star anise. Gather the edges around the ingredients, then twist and knot to secure the bundle.
In a large pot, combine the cheesecloth bundle, water, beef shank, thin soy sauce, black soy sauce, rock sugar, and pandan leaves and bring to a simmer over high heat. Immediately cover the pot, lower the heat to maintain a steady simmer, and cook, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain the simmer, until the beef is very tender but not falling apart, 1 to 1½ hours. Uncover the pot, adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook for 15 minutes more to concentrate the flavor slightly. Remove and discard the cheesecloth and pandan leaf bundles. (Fully cooled, the beef and broth will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.)
Assemble the Bowls
Before you’re ready to serve, bring the stewed beef to a bare simmer over medium-low heat.
In each of twelve wide soup bowls, combine 1 tbsp hot broth from the stewed beef, 1 tsp fish sauce, and 1 g MSG and stir well.
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Finish one bowl at a time (or two if you have two noodle baskets). Put 5 oz / 1 cup noodles, 2 oz / 1 cup Chinese broccoli, and 3 beef balls in the basket and submerge the contents in the boiling water. Cook, gently swirling the basket occasionally, until the noodles are hot, about 30 seconds. Firmly shake the basket to drain well, dump the contents into the prepared bowl, and stir well.
To the bowl, add 3 oz / ½ cup stewed beef, 1 tbsp fried garlic in garlic oil, 1 tsp black soy sauce, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of Chinese celery, a pinch of cilantro, and a pinch of sawtooth herb. Serve the khruang phrung alongside the noodles, then get to work on the next bowl. Stir well before eating.
Ba Mii Tom Yam Haeng Muu
“DRY” SPICY, SWEET, TART WHEAT NOODLES WITH PORK, PEANUTS, AND HERBS
บะหมี่ต้มยำแห้งหมู
A bowl of these noodles offers the same spicy-sour-sweet interplay that characterizes the tom yam genre, the same flavors that make tom yam kung so beloved in the US and the noodle soup kuaytiaw tom yam muu (see this page) so popular in Thailand. In this case, the latter is served haeng (“dry”—that is, without broth). You get the same noodles and sundry pork bits you’d find in the brothy version but with the full-strength flavor of the seasonings grilled-chile vinegar and fish sauce, sugar and pickled radish, peanuts and lime. Ba mii (thin wheat noodles) are the preferred mode for this dish, though as always, all types are welcome. For those who miss broth, the dish often comes with some on the side, seasoned with fish sauce, pepper, and a pinch of herbs.
Makes 1 bowl (1 serving); to make more, double or quadruple the ingredients, but make each bowl separately
FLAVOR PROFILE
Salty, umami-rich
SUGGESTED KHRUANG PHRUNG
Phrik Naam Plaa (Fish Sauce–Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Naam Som (Vinegar-Soaked Chiles) THIS PAGE
Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder) THIS PAGE
Sugar (preferably raw cane sugar)
SUGGESTED UTENSILS
THE BOWL
28 g / ¼ cup Phat Muu Sap (Stir-Fried Ground Pork; this page), hot or at room temperature
2 tbsp Naam Sup Muu (Pork Stock; this page), hot
20 g / 2 tbsp coarsely pounded (⅛- to ¼-inch pieces) unsalted roasted peanuts
14 g / 1 tbsp shredded Thai salted radish (soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, rinsed, and drained well)
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
10 g / 2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp Phrik Phao Naam Som (Grilled-Chile Vinegar; this page)
2 g / 1 tsp Phrik Pon Khua (Toasted-Chile Powder; this page)
1 tsp Naam Man Krathiam Jiaw (Fried Garlic in Garlic Oil; this page), about half solids and half oil
THE DISH
28 g pork loin, sliced against the grain into 2 by ¾ by ⅛-inch strips
Splash of Thai fish sauce
Generous pinch of finely ground Asian white pepper
3 oz / 1 cup packed round ba mii (fresh, thin, yellow Chinese wheat noodles)
3 fresh or thawed frozen Luuk Chin Muu (Pork Balls; this page, or use store-bought)
28 g / ½ cup bean sprouts
20 g / ¼ cup diagonally sliced (¼ inch thick, ¾ inch long) long beans
3 g / 1 tbsp crumbled Khaep Muu (Pork Cracklings; this page, or use store-bought)
2 g / 1 tbsp very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
4 g / 1 tbsp sliced (¼ inch) green onion
2 g / 1 tbsp thinly sliced (⅛ inch) sawtooth herb
2 triangles Kiaw Thawt (Fried Wonton Skins; this page; optional)
ACCOMPANIMENTS
½ cup Naam Sup Muu (Pork Stock; this page), hot
Pinch of very roughly chopped cilantro (thin stems and leaves)
Pinch of sliced (¼ inch) green onion
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
Pinch of finely ground Asian white pepper
Halved Key limes or regular (Persian) lime wedges
Suggested khruang phrung
Prep the Bowl
In a wide soup bowl, combine the stir-fried ground pork, pork stock, peanuts, salted radish, fish sauce, sugar, grilled-chile vinegar, toasted-chile powder, and fried garlic in garlic oil. Stir well.
Make the Dish
Put the pork loin in a small bowl and add the fish sauce and pepper. Mix with your hands, then let marinate while you continue.
Fill a large, tall pot with enough water to submerge a long-handled noodle basket and bring to a boil over high heat. Put the noodles, marinated pork loin, pork balls, bean sprouts, and long beans in the basket and submerge the contents in the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally with chopsticks, until the noodles are tender and the pork loin is cooked, about 2 minutes.
Firmly shake the basket to drain well and dump the contents into the prepared bowl. Stir well. Sprinkle on the pork cracklings, cilantro, green onion, and sawtooth herb, then garnish with the fried wonton skins.
For the accompaniments, stir together the hot pork stock, cilantro, green onion, fish sauce, and pepper in a small bowl and serve this hot soup, the lime halves, and the suggested khruang phrung alongside the noodles.
