Northern Thai Pork Curry Soup with Rice Vermicelli Noodles

Khanom chin nam ngiao: ขนมจีนน้ำเงี้ยว has become a signature dish of the Northern Thai Lanna cuisine. It has a characteristic spicy and tangy flavor. They are main ingredients, including pork, tomatoes, dried fermented soy bean, and dried red cotton flowers: dok ngiu-ดอกงิ้ว. These flowers are one of essential ingredients that you can buy online. This soup is commonly served with crispy pork rinds and fresh vegetables on the side such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and lime wedge. Another important ingredient is tua nao: ถั่วเน่า, a dried fermented soya bean that is used extensively in northern cuisine but I used soy bean paste: เต้าเจี้ยว and shrimp paste: กะปิ as a substitute.

Moreover, the red cotton tree is native to tropical Southeast Asia. In Thailand, they normally dry the core of the red cotton flowers in the sun until they are brown. This flower core has such a wonderful texture and gives this spicy noodle soup an additional dimension. I love northern cuisine and had a chance to visit Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai many times. Local people are warm, soft spoken, friendly, and always smiling! I also made my favorite dishes such as Khao Soi and Nam Phrik Ong. Hope you give it a try ka! xoxo

Ingredients 

Serves 6

To make a curry paste 

3 dried Guajillo : Mexican chilies, mildly hot

5 dried red spur chili peppers, if you like spicy please add more

2 shallots, chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced

a handful of coriander roots, chopped

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 sliced galangal, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp shrimp paste

To make pork curry soup

12 dried red cotton flowers, soaked in water

1.20 lb ground pork

1.60 lb pork ribs

1 dry pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp fermented soy bean

salt to taste

1/2 tsp sugar

10 cups water

3 Tsp vegetable oil

bean sprouts

cilantro leaves to garnish

lime wedges

cooked rice vermicelli noodles

Instructions 

1. Clean pork ribs with salt and rinse. Bring water to a boil, add ribs and 1/2 tsp salt and boil until tender. Skim any foam or fat on the surface. Add dried red cotton flowers.
2. To make a curry paste, remove stems from the chilies and cut into small pieces  with a scissor. Discard the seeds and soak in hot water until soft and drain. Use a pestle and mortar, pound chilies and salt into paste. Add lemongrass and galangal and pound until combined. Pound chopped garlic and shallot until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Pound chopped coriander roots, seeds, turmeric powder until smooth. Finally add shrimp paste and pound to combine. It’s easier to pound herbs and spices in a small portion.
3. Heat oil over medium heat, stir in the chili paste and soy bean.
4.  Add ground pork, then stirring until cooked. Stir in tomatoes until soft.
5. Pour pork curry mixture into a soup pot. Season with fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Taste and adjust seasonings. Simmer about 15-20 minutes.
6. Cook rice vermicelli noodles in the boiling water about 3 minutes. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Serve warm with pork curry soup and side dishes. Enjoy ka!

Delicious ka!

 

Chicken Curry with Rice Noodle Soup (เกี๋ยวเตี๋ยวแกง)

This Chicken coconut curry with rice noodles is one of the most famous dishes among Thai Muslim food including Thai Curry Peanut Salad Dressing or สลัดแขก, and Thai Chicken Biryani or Kao Mok Gai. These delicious dishes were reminding me about my childhood meal. I also like the combination of soft boiled rice noodles, boiled eggs, tofu, and crunchy fried shallots that make this curry bowl even more interesting. Are you hungry? Let’s me show you how I made it! 

Ingredients: serves 4 
Red curry paste
5 large red chilies, seeded 
5 shallots, diced 
7 garlic cloves 
1 stalk lemongrass, thinly sliced 
1/2 teaspoon salt 

Chicken curry with rice noodles 
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces 
1 can of coconut milk
1/4 cup red curry paste 
1 teaspoon ground turmeric 
1 teaspoon ground coriander 
2 teaspoons ground curry powder 
1 tablespoon fish sauce 
1 tablespoon soy sauce 
2 tablespoons palm sugar
2 cups water or chicken stock 
salt to taste 
1 pack of rice noodles 
bean sprouts  

Garnishes 
1 pack of firm tofu, cut into small cubes
hard-boiled eggs, cut in half  
4 shallots, thinly sliced and fried 
chopped cilantro and scallions 
pickled & preserved cabbage 

Instructions:

Make the red curry paste

Cut red chilies with scissor and remove the seeds. Grind into a powder in a coffee grinder or sock in a warm water until soften. In a mortar and pestle or a blender, pound or blend together chilies, garlics, shallots, and lemongrass into a paste. 

 

Pour coconut milk into a wok or a large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the coconut begins to curdle, then add the red curry paste, ground turmeric, cumin, and curry powder. Stir to make a rich sauce and reduce the heat. 
Add chicken and stir until well coasted. Pour in remaining coconut milk, chicken stock or water, fish sauce, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Simmer over medium heat until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Adjust the seasoning as needed. 

 

 

Make fried shallots 
In a pan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add sliced shallots and stir until golden brown. Transfer on the paper towel lined plate to drain.

 

 

Make hard boiled eggs 
In a saucepan, add water and eggs and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil eggs about 10 minutes. 

Make the rice noodles and bean sprouts 
In a large container, add cold water and sock the rice noodles about 15-20 minutes and drain. In a soup pot, bring water to a boil and add noodles and cook for a few minutes or until soften and drain well. Then add bean sprouts into the boiling water for a few seconds and drain. 

 

 

Place bean sprouts and noodles in a bowl and pour chicken curry on it. Top with boiled egg, tofu, fried shallots, pickle cabbage and chopped cilantro and scallions. Enjoy ka! 

 

Enjoy ka!

  

Five-Spice Chicken Noodle Soup with Bitter Melon (เกี๋ยวเตี๋ยวไก่ตุ๋นใส่มะระ)

When it comes to winter recipes, one of my favorite dishes is a delicious fragrant Thai chicken noodle soup. There are many spices and herbs, which add aroma flavor into the soup such as star anise, cinnamon stick, ginger, and galangal. This soup can be made with chicken, beef, or pork and cook in the pot until its tender. 
The bitter melon is star of the show and has been deemed a super food. It creates such a bitter flavor but also has health benefits such as lower blood sugar, lose weight, and soothe digestive disorders.
There are many types of noodles can be used including egg noodles and rice vermicelli. The beansprouts, spring onion and coriander are also added at the end of cooking for a delightful in taste and texture. I am sure that you are already hungry, so let’s get cooking ka!

Ingredients: serves 6-8 

8 chicken drumsticks 
5 sliced fresh ginger, unpeeled
5 sliced galagal
5 star anise 
3 cinnamon sticks 
2 medium onions 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons oyster sauce 
1 tablespoon fish sauce 
1 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons palm sugar or granulated sugar 
2 bay leaves 
12 cups water 
5 dried mushroom, sock in warm water 
1.5 pounds or 2 bitter melons, cut into 1-inch and remove seed  
1 carrots, sliced 
egg noodles or rice noodles  
2-3 cups beansprouts
3 scallions, finely chopped for garnish  

Making cilantro paste: 
handful cilantro stems or 3 cilantro roots 
5 garlic cloves 
1 teaspoon whole black or white pepper 
1 teaspoon whole or powder allspice 
fresh cilantro leaves for garnish 
pickled or preserved cabbage (Tung Chai) for garnish(optional)
Making fried garlic for garnish  
7-8 garlic cloves, minced 
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil 
Thai table condiments such as fish sauce, red chili flakes, lime or Thai chilies and white vinegar(prik nam som)

Directions  

To make cilantro paste, in a pestle and mortar, add chopped cilantro, garlic, pepper, whole allspice , and pound together until smooth. 

 

To make the soup, pour water into a large heavy pot, add cilantro paste, sliced ginger, galangal, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves. Add chicken drumsticks, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, and palm sugar. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Skim off any form that rise to the surface of the liquid with a slotted spoon. Add dried mushroom including water and whole onions. 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, prepare bitter melons, cut the ends off and cut in half lengthwise, do not peel. Cut into about 1 inch and remove the seeds and white pith from the middle of the melon with a small spoon. Clean and add salt to brine the melon about 10 minutes. Massage the melon with the salt and clean it with cold water. Then add the melon and carrot into the pot. Simmer about 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Taste for seasonings. 

 

 

 

 

To make fried garlic, add oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir in minced garlic and stir until golden brown. Pour in a small bowl. 

 

To make the noodles, heat water to boiling, add noodles and boil uncovered about several minutes, stirring occasionally until tender. Drain noodles and add in a bowl. Sprinkle noodles with fried garlic, pickle cabbage or Tung Chai and pour  the soup with chicken and veggies. Season the noodle soup with fish sauce, chili flakes, and Thai chiles with white vinegar if desired. Enjoy ka! 

 

 

 

 

Let’s have lunch together ka!

 

   

Wonton Soup : Giew-Nam (เกี๊ยวน้ำ)

Wonton soup is one of my favorite childhood meals. I was growing up in Bangkok and every day a man with his food cart was coming next to our house. He was making and selling this wonton noodle soup. He reminded me musician playing his music instrument which sounded “pok-pok.” I instantly knew that my meal was getting ready and will have this delicious wonton soup in a few short minutes. I would say this soup is my Thai comfort food.
At that time I was told by my parents to prepare our bowls and get ready to eat. Sometimes I was even adding cooked jasmine rice and eating it with this wonton soup:). 

I found this image online that similar but looked newer than the food cart 20 years ago.

Let’s me tell you how I made this yummy soup. 

Wonton Filling Recipe  

Ingredients: Make about 25-30 wontons 

1.30 pounds ground pork 

12 medium shrimps, peeled, deveined, chopped 

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 tablespoon oyster sauce 

2 scallions, chopped 

1 teaspoon sesame oil 

1 pack of wonton wrapper (thawed if frozen)  

1 egg, beaten for sealing wontons  

1/2 teaspoon whole white pepper

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn

4 garlic cloves 

Handful of cilantro stems or 3 roots

To make the cilantro paste, add chopped cilantro stems, garlic, whole white, and black pepper in mortar and pestle and pound until smooth.

Making the filling 

In a mixing bowl, mix ground pork, chopped shrimp, chopped green onion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and the cilantro paste. Marinade the mixture at least 30 minutes in refrigerator.  

How to fold wontons: 

There are many ways to fold wontons:

1. The simple purse shapes, which my mother was always making it when I was in Bangkok. First, add a teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of each wonton wrapper. Squeezing the corners together to create a purse shape and seal the tops well with egg wash or water. 

2. A twist style that I learned from one of my best friends. First, lay a wonton wrapper on a cutting board. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and brush the edges of the wrapper with a little egg wash or water and fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle. Try to release any air out. Then wet both corners of the triangle with egg wash and gently pull them together and press firmly. 

The twist style

I used a plastic container with lid to keep these wontons in the freezer.

 

Making the soup

Ingredients: 

1 daikon radish, peeled, sliced  

3 cups water 

2-3 pork bones (optional) 

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce 

pinch salt and pepper to taste 

3 garlic, smashed 

1 carrot, peeled, sliced 

2 stalks celery, sliced

 1 onion, sliced, quartered  

1 cup bean sprouts 

cilantro and scallions, chopped to garnish

1 teaspoon oil or garlic oil (optional) fried chopped garlic with vegetable oil until golden brown 

Condiments for the wonton soup (optional)  

such as fish sauce, chili flake, pickled Thai chilies(thinly sliced Thai chilies with  vinegar) 

Directions: 

Bring a pot of water to a boil with pork bones, add smashed garlic, sliced  daikon, onion, carrot, celery, and season it with soy sauce, pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Checking the seasonings. 

In another pot or saucepan heat water until boiling point. Gently drop wontons into the boiling water and sprinkle some salt. Cook about 5 minutes or until once they start floating. If wontons are from the freezer allow them to cook longer about 12 minutes. Lift the wontons out from the pot with a slotted spoon and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with oil or garlic oil to prevent the wontons sticking together. Divide fresh or cooked bean sprouts among individual bowls. Pour the stock into it and garnish with chopped scallion or cilantro. Serve hot and taste for seasonings. You also can add condiments such as fish sauce, chili flake, and  pickled Thai chilies. Enjoy ka! 

Yummy!