In Thailand, Nam Ngiao is considered a Northern Thai noodle dish but actually it is rooted in the Yunnan area of China and brought to the North of Thailand through the migration of Tai (Shan) people through Burma/Myanmar. Now every area has a different variation of the dish and since we didn't grow up in Thailand, mum had to develop a recipe based on what was available at the time in Scotland.
This noodle soup dish is rich from the combination of pork mince and bones as well as gelatinous chicken feet (yes, you read that right) and tangy from the tomatoes in the broth and pickled mustard greens and lime juice accompaniments, balanced with a comforting spice from dried chillies in the paste. My mum does away making her own paste (who has the time?) and uses a mix of Thai red curry paste and Nam Prik Ta Daeng (นำ้พริกตาแดง), which is a chilli paste made from dried chillis, garlic and shrimp paste.
You normally eat this with fermented rice vermicelli (known as khanom chin (ขนมจีน), "chin" literally translates to "Chinese" which honours the origins of these noodles), but these are very difficult to find so we use somen noodles instead which have a similar texture. Another key ingredient is the core of the cotton (bombax) tree, which is also hard to find, so we leave it out.
For this dish you need:
-1 tbsp vegetable oil
-1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
-1 tbsp nam prik ta daeng
-250 g pork mince
-around 400 g pork bones (I used what was labelled "pork blade" in the Asian supermarket)
-around 400 g chicken feet (you need the collagen in this recipe, if you'd rather you can swap out for chicken wings)
-3 litres water
-7 tbsp fish sauce
-3 large tomatoes
-19 cherry tomatoes
-100 g blood tofu, chopped (you can leave this out if you want)
-dried somen noodles
-pickled mustard greens, chopped
-coriander, chopped
-spring onions, sliced
-bean sprouts
-lime juice
-pork scratchings, fried garlic and fried dried red chilli to garnish if you wish
Fry the curry and chilli paste in oil until fragrant.
Add the pork mince and fry for a few minutes.
Add the bones and chicken feet then add the water so everything is covered, bring to boil.
Once the water has boiled, turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Add half of the fish sauce.
Simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, avoid stirring so the broth stays clear.
Once the meat is well cooked (falling off the bone), add the tomatoes and blood tofu.
Continue simmering for about another half an hour.
Cook the noodles in boiling water and then drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.
Spoon the broth over the noodles in a bowl and serve with all the garnishes.
Enjoy!
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