Nam Ngiaw (Northern Thai noodle soup)

Nam ngiaw (sometimes written nam ngiao or nam ngeow) is a popular and porky noodle soup from Northern Thailand. It's easy to find in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, but not so easy to find recipes for online, probably because several of the ingredients are quite hard to come by outside of the region. But it's so delicious, even a non-authentic version (made with ingredients available in the West) is worth making.

Recipe

300-400g pork ribs (short or loin)
200g of minced (ground) pork
1 tsp oil
large handful spring onions (scallions), white and greens separate and thinly sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger or galangal
2 tsp minced lemongrass
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbsp minced chilli
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp fermented soybeans
3-4 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 small handful beansprouts
wheat noodles
small handful coriander leaves
4 tsp deep fried garlic or shallots (available in plastic pots from Asian food shops)
pickled mustard greens (optional)
cubes of congealed pigs blood (definitely optional)
dok ngiew - the dried flowers of the red cotton tree (optional)

I can't find dok ngiew where I live (and I don't even want to look for pigs blood), but I'm told the method to prepare the flowers is to soak in cold water overnight, then boil for 20 minutes, then drain, cool, and slice off the hard bits at the base of the flowers, then they're ready to use. The flowers are supposed to add more of a sour taste - the tomatoes also serve that purpose. As you probably won't be able to find dok ngiew, let's skip this bit.

Place the ribs into a large pot, add boiling water to cover by about an inch, and bring to a simmer. Cook 35-40 minutes, until almost done.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, and add the oil, then add the white parts of the spring onion, Cook 1 minute, then add the garlic, ginger or galangal, lemongrass, shrimp paste, chilli, fish sauce, turmeric and coriander. Mix well and cook 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.

Add the minced pork and the soybeans, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork is browned. Add the chopped tomatoes, and continue to cook 5 minutes, until the tomato has softened.

Turn up the heat under the ribs, and top up with a little more boiling water if reduced too much - you need the ribs to still be covered, so you have enough water to cook the pasta. Add the noodles and cook until done (if the noodles take more than a few minutes, you may have to take the minced pork frying pan off the heat, so that it doesn't catch on the bottom. Just set it aside). If you were using the prepared flowers, you'd add them at this stage.

When the noodles are done, stir the minced pork, tomato and spice mixture into the noodles and ribs saucepan, and stir in the green tops of the spring onions.

Place a small handful of bean sprouts into each bowl, Ladle the noodle soup on top, and top each with a few chopped coriander leaves, and a spoon of crispy fried garlic or shallots, and a few pieces of picked mustard greens (if using). In Thailand, it would also be usual to add a couple of cubes of pigs blood to each, but I skip that bit.

Serves: 4
Preparation and cooking time: 60 minutes

Note: normally the noodles would be cooked separately, and added to the bowls with the bean sprouts, with the porky soup poured over the top, but I'm of the why-wash-another-pan philosophy.