Tom Yum Noodle Soup (Kuai Tiao Tom Yam)
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวต้มยำ Kuai Tiao Tom YamSay it: gwai-dtiao dtom yam
Tom yum rice-stick soup is Bangkok's street-stall way of getting tom yum and a bowl of noodles at once. Flat rice sticks sit in a hot-and-sour broth scented with lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime, sharpened with lime juice and fish sauce and deepened with roasted chili paste. Paper-thin pork, crunchy bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and crisp fried garlic go on top. It is eaten at breakfast, lunch and late at night, and should taste hot, sour, salty and a little sweet.
Tom Yum Noodle Soup (Kuai Tiao Tom Yam)
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวต้มยำ, Kuai Tiao Tom Yam
Pronounced gwai-dtiao dtom yam
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
Also egg-free.
Allergens: contains fish, peanuts. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Broth
Rice sticks and toppings
Method
Put the dried rice sticks in a wide bowl, cover with warm water and soak for 20–30 minutes, until pliable but still slightly firm at the center. Drain well. If using fresh rice sticks, just rinse them under cool water and set aside.
Make the crisp garlic. heat the oil in a small pan over medium-low heat and fry the sliced garlic, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until pale golden. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto paper towel; keep the garlic oil and the fried garlic separately.
Bring the water or stock to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add the lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the broth smells strongly of citrus and ginger.
Stir in the nam prik pao, fish sauce and palm sugar. Taste: the broth should be savory, gently sweet and fragrant at this stage, before any lime goes in.
Slide in the sliced pork, keeping the broth at a gentle simmer, and cook for 2–3 minutes until the slices are just opaque and no longer pink. Turn the heat down low to keep it hot.
Bring a second pot of water to a boil and cook the drained rice sticks for 3–5 minutes (dried) or about 1 minute (fresh) until tender but still with a little bite. Drain and divide among 4 deep bowls.
Drop the bean sprouts and water spinach into the hot broth for 30 seconds, then ladle the broth, pork and greens over the rice sticks.
Take the pot off the heat and stir in the lime juice, or squeeze it straight into the bowls. Taste again and adjust with more fish sauce for salt or lime for sourness.
Scatter over the crushed peanuts, fried garlic, spring onions, cilantro and crushed chilies, drizzle a little garlic oil on each bowl and serve immediately with lime wedges.
Regional variant: Dry tom yum rice sticks (Kuai tiao tom yum haeng)
Use the same ingredients but only about 1 cup (240 ml) of broth. Cook the rice sticks and toss them in a bowl with 2 tbsp nam prik pao, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tsp palm sugar and 3–4 tbsp of the hot broth until every strand is coated. Top with the pork, bean sprouts, peanuts, crisp garlic, chilies and herbs, and serve the extra broth on the side.
Cook's notes
- Add the lime juice off the heat — boiled lime turns dull and bitter, and the fresh sourness is the point of the dish.
- Drain the soaked rice sticks well; wet strands water down the broth and make it taste thin.
- Nam prik pao varies in sweetness and heat from jar to jar, so season the broth in small additions and taste as you go; a few brands add soy sauce, so check the label if you are cooking gluten-free.
Serve with
Extra lime wedges, fish sauce with sliced chilies, and a cool Thai iced tea or plain water.
Make ahead and storage
The broth can be simmered and strained a day ahead and refrigerated; reheat, then add the pork and lime juice fresh. The rice sticks are best cooked to order.
