Hi Foodies! On our trip to Nan, Thailand, my Uncle introduced us to this amazing and spicy Khanom Jeen dish called Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiaw. It’s spicy, sour, herby, full of porky flavors yet it’s also light & so satisfying at the same time. It was a noodle dish that I was so in awe with when I took my first bite. It looked so simple but no… It was so full of flavor. This noodle dish consist of rice vermicelli noodles, topped with a spicy and sour pork stew/broth that has pork bones and ground up pork meat. It also has pork or any other meat blood jelly in it. Tomato and a dried flower from a red cotton tree is added to this dish that makes it even more special. It is garnished with fresh herbs, banana flower, fried garlic, lime, beansprouts, and my favorite… PICKLED GREENS! Since I live in the US, I couldn’t find certain ingredients needed for this dish. So it may be harder for you as well. But it can still be made! So I hope you guys enjoy my version of it or from what I learned from my uncle and from watching so many other tutorial videos hehe. Sorry it’s quite the prep as well! But Happy cooking!

The Meat:

Pork bones with meat, pork meatballs, and ground pork!

Spices & Seasonings

These are the main ingredients to make the curry paste:

Dried Thai and California chili peppers, fermented soy bean paste, turmeric, kachai, cilantro roots, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, and shrimp paste.

This is the soy bean paste I used and the kachai I used. Feel free to use the frozen kachai if you find them. They work just as fine. Usually kachai is used in curry or soup that contains fish. But I love the smell and flavor of kachai that I decided to add it into this soup.

Homemade curry paste!

Seasonings and other ingredients:

Palm sugar, salt, pork bouillon, tomatoes, dried flower, and fish sauce as an option.

These are called dok ngiew. They come from the flower of the bombax ceiba tree. In Thailand it is dried up and then re-soaked in water over a night to soften back up. It’s not soft in texture. It’s quite rough but not overly rough that you can’t chew it. It has just the right roughness. Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiaw is known for having these dried flowers in it. If you don’t have any, the soup can be made without it! It’s in the soup as great texture! I had to ask my grandma in Thailand to send me some!

Don’t forget your rice vermicelli noodles!

I boiled 6 packs of medium size rice vermicelli noodles. Follow directions on the back of the package. But you can also make fresh one with my recipe here: https://chawjcreations.com/2018/03/17/fresh-rice-vermicelli-noodles/

The Broth

Garnishes / Toppings 

Main Garnishes includes: Lime wedges, bean sprouts, slice banana flower, pickled greens, fresh cilantro and green onions, and fried garlic & chili pepper.

The pickled greens are extra special in this dish. I love putting extra on it. My recipe can be found here: https://chawjcreations.com/2018/04/03/hmong-zaub-qaub-pickled-greens/

Soak your slice banana flower in lime water so it doesn’t oxidize!

SERVE AWAY!

Look at this delicious plate of Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiaw! YUM! ENJOY!

Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiaw (น้ำเงี้ยว)

Serves: 15-20 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 45 minutes 45 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

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Ingredients

• Cooked rice vermicelli noodles (about 6 packs)
• 3 lbs pork bones with meat (or a mix of bones and meat)
• 1 lb ground pork
• 5 quarts water (20 cups)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp of salt (add more after taste)
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes and 2 whole Roma tomatoes
• 1-2 cups of dok ngiew (dried flower)
• 1 cube pork boullion or 1/2 Tbsp
• 2 Tbsp of palm sugar (half the round)
• 1 cup of cooked pork, chicken, or beef blood jelly of you choice
• Pork meatballs (add as much as you like)
• CURRY PASTE
• 32 Thai dried chili peppers deseeded (0.5 oz)
• 2 dried California chili pepper deseeded (0.5 oz)
• 1 4" inch turmeric root (0.5 oz)
• 3 whole shallots chopped (5 oz)
• 10 whole garlic cloves (1 oz)
• 5 kachai roots (1.5 oz)
• 1 lemongrass (1.5 oz)
• 1 Tbsp cilantro roots
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1/4 cup soybean paste
• 1/4 cups water (if using a blender)
• GARNISHES
• Beansprouts
• Pickled mustard greens
• Thinly sliced banana flower
• Fresh cilantro and green onions
• Lime wedges
• Fried garlic
• Fried dried chili peppers
• Fish sauce if you want more saltiness
• Ground up chili powder if you want more spice

Instructions

1) Cook the rice vermicelli noodles : Follow directions in the back of the packaged rice vermicelli noodles. In this recipe, I cooked 6 bags. Once cooked, run the noodles through cold water and grab small bundles at a time and place it into a strainer. Once all noodles are in the strainer, cover and set it aside.

2) Prep the tomatoes, boil the blood jelly, and prep all garnishes and herbs/spices for the curry paste. 

Tomatoes: Leave the cherry tomatoes whole. Cut the Roma tomatoes into wedges. Set aside

Blood Jelly: Cook the blood of your choice in boiling water until it is fully cooked. Beef blood was a challenge since it's more liquify. Pour it into a bowl and then steam it. Once cooked, cut into cubes and set aside.

Garnish: Cut and rinse any of the garnishes anyway you want to!

Curry spices: Cut all the herbs and spices for curry into smaller pieces to make it easier to blend up.

3) Boil the pork bones: Add the pork bones into a pot. Then add in 5 quarts of water and let it come to a small boil for at least 20-30 minutes.

While the pork bones are cooking make the curry paste

4) Making the curry paste: 

• Hydrating the chilis: Deseed the dried Thai and California chili pepper and place them in a bowl. Then pour hot boiling water over them. Put a lid on and let it steep for at least 5 minutes. Drain them and then you can use them.
• Add in the hydrated chilis, and the rest of the herbs and seasonings into a blender. Blend and keep stirring it if it gets stuck. Blend until smooth.

*If you have a mortar and pestle to make curry feel free to use it. Since I don't have one, I used a blender. If you are using a mortar and pestle, you don't need to add in 1/4 cup of water. The blender needs it more than the mortar and pestle.

5) Once the pork bones have boiled for 20-30 minutes, add in the 2 1/2 tbsp of salt, and the dried flowers (dok ngiew). Let it boil for another 8-10 minutes.

In the meantime...

6) Pork and curry stir fry: In a pan, cook the curry paste in a tbsp of oil for about 3-5 minutes. Then add in the ground pork with 1 tsp of salt. Stir fry for about 5 minutes and then add in the tomatoes. Stir that for another 3 minutes or so. Then pour it all into the pork broth that has been boiling. Let it come to a simmer.

*If you don't want your soup spicy, start with half the curry paste and then add more after tasting it.

7) Add the rest of the ingredients: Now that we have the dried flowers, curry paste, ground pork, and tomatoes in the soup, let's add the rest of our ingredients. Add in the pork meatballs, palm sugar, blood jelly, and any additional seasoning after tasting it. Stir and let it simmer until the meatball cooks. Turn off heat and let's serve!

8) Serving: Place the rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl. Pour the broth over the noodles. Top with the garnishes. Stir and serve away!