Hot-and-Sour Dry Rice Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. ground dried red chillies
• 6-10 chopped fresh Thai chillies (prik kee noo)
• Juice of 2 fresh limes
• 1 Tbs. vinegar
• 2 Tbs. roasted chilli paste (nahm prik pow)
• 2-3 Tbs. fish sauce (nahm bplah), to taste
• 1/2 cup ground pork
• 1/2 lb. fresh thin rice noodles (gkuay dtiow sen lek)
• 3 cups bite-size lettuce leaf pieces
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced boiled pork, or barbecued pork
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced cooked pork liver
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1 stalk green onion, cut in thin rounds (use both white and green parts)
• 2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

Mix the two kinds of chillies, lime juice, vinegar, roasted chilli paste and fish sauce together. Set aside.

Spread the ground pork loosely over a wire-mesh strainer with handle and dip in hot boiling water until cooked through, stirring to break into bits. Drain and set aside.

Cook the noodles quickly by blanching in hot water for a few seconds. Drain and toss with the hot-and-sour sauce. Dish into individual serving bowls lined on the bottom with lettuce pieces. Arrange the sliced pork, pork liver slices and ground pork over the top of each serving. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and garnish with green onions and cilantro. As a breakfast food or for lunch, this recipe serves two to four.

Notes and Pointers:

This "dry" noodle dish can easily be converted into soup noodles by adding a broth made by simmering pork bones with some crushed garlic, cilantro roots and ground white pepper, and lightly salted with light soy sauce, sea salt or fish sauce. For added flavor and sweetness, cook the pork meat, liver and ground pork in this broth. Adjustment in the amount of fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and nahm prik pow in the chilli sauce may be needed as the broth will likely dilute the intensity of the sauce.

If you are not able to find fresh, thin rice noodles, substitute with a 1/4 lb. of dried rice noodles. Soak first to soften, then cook in boiling water to the firmness you like. This may take a few minutes.

This recipe makes a very spicy batch of noodles. For milder palates, simply cut back on the amount of both dried and fresh chillies, or strain out the chillies and use only the liquid part of the sauce.

For a change, use chicken, shrimp or a combination of seafoods in the place of pork.

Recipe Copyright © 1995 Kasma Loha-unchit.

This recipe is found on page 205 of It Rains Fishes: Legends,Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking, by Kasma Loha-unchit. Published by Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995.

Noodle Dishes:  Pad Thai   |  Stir-Fried Wide Fresh Rice Noodles   |  Stewed Beef Noodle Soup

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