Guay Tiew Reua (Boat Noodles)

Boat Noodles are a Bangkok speciality; a spicy bowl of aromatic broth, filled with rice noodles, meat and/ or fish, raw veggies and herbs before being adjusted to the taste of the eater with lime, fish sauce and sugar. They are usually served up in small bowls and it’s common to order up numerous bowls during the course of a meal! These aren’t totally authentic due to my squeamishness; the real ones usually contain liquid pig’s blood to thicken and darken the broth. Once the broth is made, everything else is literally dipped into the broth for a few seconds to heat through before being piled into a bowl. This is a recipe for the committed; it takes a while to make and prepare!

For two people ( a few bowls each) use:

For the broth:

• half of a pork tenderloin


• 1 litre water


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a small splash dark soy sauce


• a big piece of galangal (available in some supermarkets) or ginger, in slices


• 2 or 3 lemongrass stalks, bashed up and left whole


• a small handful coriander stems/roots, ripped up


• 4 garlic cloves, bashed up


• a big pinch sugar


• a big pinch pepper


• 5 star anise (supermarkets sell this in the spices section

Fillings:

• The cooked pork tenderloin (see broth)


• Two nests/packets of dried rice noodles


• A packet of pork or fish balls (only available in Asian supermarkets- substitute more meat, veggies or seafood


• half a bag of bean sprouts


• a handful a green leafy veggies (pak choi, choi sum, spinach) 


• 4 spring onions, finely sliced


• a small handful of coriander leaves

Toppings:

• 1 lime, cut into wedges

and mix together:

• a big splash of nam pla (fish sauce)


• red chillies, chopped fine


• 1 clove garlic, chopped

Start with the broth. Put all the broth ingredients into a very large pan. Bring it slowly up to the boil before turning it down and letting it simmer gently for an hour or so. Top up with more water if needed. After an hour, take out the pork and put to one side. Sieve out all rest of the solid broth ingredients and get rid of them, they’ve done their job. Slice the pork loin thinly and leave for the assembly stage.

Assembling the noodles. Put the pork or fish balls into the simmering broth and let these cook through for 5 minutes. In the mean time, prepare the dried rice noodles as per the packet instructions, usually they need soaking for a few minutes first. For this next bit you’ll need a small sieve or metal slotted spoon or a Chinese spider utensil in which to dip and cook your filling ingredients in the broth. Place half the noodles into your utensil and lower them into the hot broth until they are just submerged. Swirl them about in the broth for about 20 seconds to cook before turning them out into 2 bowls. In turn, repeat this process with the half the leafy veg, then half the bean sprouts. Next the sliced pork loin- dip and place a few slices over the noodles. Scoop out a few of the floating pork or fish bowls and add these to your bowl before sprinkling over some of the sliced spring onions and a few sprigs of coriander. 

Finally (breathing a sigh of relief) sprinkle over some of the chillies in fish sauce and squeeze a lime wedge over before sinking in to your well deserved bowl of boat noodles (don’t forget you still have equal amount of ingredients for bowl number 2!)