Guay Tiew Nam Moo (Pork Noodle Soup)

There's nothing quite like slurping down a bowl of well seasoned noodles in a savoury broth and guay tiew nam (rice noodle soups) are perfect for that. They can be more or less whatever you want them to be using any kind of combinations of ingredients and seasonings. They are both hearty and filling but very healthy too, just right for a cold February evening. You'll find noodle soup sellers up and down Thailand on any available street corner working from restaurants, stalls and push carts and they're one of the easiest and most popular dishes to grab on the go.

For two big bowls use:

• a small pack of fresh rice noodles (around 200g) (or 2 leaves of dried- prepared to pack instructions), loosened and separated into individual strands
• 2 handfuls of beansprouts
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 200g pork mince
• 1 litre water
• 2 handfuls of chicken bones, raw or cooked, meat on or off. I used chicken wing tips and will save the wings for another recipe.
• half a bulb of garlic, 1 clove finely chopped, the rest just cut in half
• a handful of coriander- half finely chopped, half just very roughly cut
• a tablespoon of black pepper
• a small splash of fish sauce

And for seasonings, choose from: chilli flakes, sugar, sliced chillies & garlic in vinegar or in fish sauce, lime wedges, peanuts, shredded coriander- it's your choice!

Place the broth ingredients: water, chicken bones, the roughly cut garlic and coriander and 3/4 of the black pepper in a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer slowly for at least an hour for the flavour to develop.

While the broth cooks make the pork balls; mix mince, finely chopped garlic and coriander, the last 1/4 tablespoon of pepper and the fish sauce together in a bowl. Using your hands, form them into golf ball sized meatballs and leave to one side.

When the broth is ready, use a small sieve or strainer to scoop out and discard all the solids. Turn up the heat and drop in the rice noodles, not for long, around 20 seconds, much longer and they'll turn to mush. Scoop out and place in bowls along with a little broth so they don't clump together.

Into the simmering broth, gently place the pork balls which will cook quickly; around 3 minutes- cut one if half to check if need be. Scoop them out when cooked and place onto of the noodles.

Finally, put in the beansprouts and blanch for no more than 20 seconds so they don't lose their crunch. strain and place in the serving bowl before ladling  over a decent amount of broth to fill the bowl.

Sprinkle over the chopped spring onions and whatever seasoning you like. Feel free to slurp, it's good manners!!

Pad Pak Ruam Mit (Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables)

Sometimes you just need a healthy stir fry of fresh and vibrant crunchy vegetables. Sometimes you don’t and only deep fried will do. I like a happy medium; if I do an unhealthy and/or meat based dish like my crisp garlic chicken- gai tod gratiem I like to have a dish like this to serve on the side. It creates a good balance, don’t you think?

This recipe is very flexible- use whatever combination of crunchy vegetables you have to hand…


For two people I used:

• a handful of beansprouts


• 5 or 6 baby corn, cut into chunky pieces


• a small bunch of yu choy (Chinese spinach), cut into chunks


• 3 spring onions, chopped small


• a small handful of oyster mushrooms, ripped up


• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed


• a big splash of Thai fish sauce- soy sauce is a fine substitute for veggies/vegans


• a big splash of oyster sauce- use a bit more soy or mushroom ketchup if you’re vegetarian/vegan


• a small splash of yellow bean sauce


• a big pinch of pepper


• a small splash of vegetable oil for frying

Heat a wok until hot and add in the veggie oil- throw in the garlic and stir fry for just a few seconds before adding in all the veggies apart from the spring onions. Stir fry these for about 3 minutes until they’re lightly cooked. Add in the sauces and pepper and cook for a further minute. If you like a little more sauce,add in a splash of water.

Just before turning off the heat; throw in the spring onions and stir through. That’s about it- it only takes 5 minutes to cook, so it’s a great one if you need food quickly!

Tom Yum Boran (Ancient Soup)

And so it’s the end of the year and a final post for 2014. Tom Yum Boran (Ancient soup) a little known, old fashioned Thai recipe that was very easy to make,being sort of a cross between a Pad Thai and hot and sour soup or quite like a Thai version of a bowl of Japanese ramen. It is an excellent one for clearing heads and is both light and cleansing too. A perfect healthy new year food.


In just 6 months I’ve gained 233 lovely followers, thanks for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy reading my blog and hopefully are inspired to try out some of the recipes. Have a wonderful 2015! Naomi x


For two people, use:

• Two small nests of dried egg noodles


• a small handful of thinly sliced lean pork


• Two handfuls of bean sprouts


• Juice of a lime 


• 4 spring onions, chopped


• a small handful of peanuts, crushed


• a pinch of chilli flakes


• half a pint of water


• a big piece of galangal,bashed


• two stalks of lemongrass, bashed


• 3 cloves of garlic,bashed


• 2 small Thai chillies, split


• 6 ish kaffir lime leaves, ripped up


• a splash of fish sauce (nam pla)


• a big splash of tamarind concentrate or if you can’t get this, an extra half juiced lime

In a large pan, heat the water with the meat, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, chillies and lime leaves on a gentle heat for around 30 minutes to infuse the flavours of the herbs. If the water reduces too much,add a bit more. After the infusing time, strain out and discard all the solid herbs, leaving the meat behind. Add in the tamarind, lime and fish sauces before stirring briefly.

In a separate pan, boil water and cook the noodles before straining out and dividing the noodles between bowls. Briefly boil the bean sprouts, 30 seconds will do, before scooping out and topping the noodles with them.

Distribute the soup and pork between the bowls and sprinkle over the spring onion, peanuts, chilli flake and an extra squeeze of lime.