← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 150 g thin dried rice sticks (sen mee or 1 mm rice noodles)
• 150 g pork belly or pork shoulder, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 3 Shallot, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp tamarind purée
• 3 tbsp palm sugar, grated
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 tsp Thai fermented soybean paste (tao jiao)
• ½ tsp Dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp chilli powder or flakes (to taste)
• 200 ml Water
• 100 g Bean sprouts
• 3 Spring onion, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 1 Lime, cut into wedges

Method

1. Soak the noodles in room-temperature water for 20 min until soft and white, then drain. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Fry the garlic and shallots for 1 minute until golden, then add the pork and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until cooked and lightly browned.
3. Pour in the sauce and bring it to a bubble, then add the noodles. Toss for 3–4 minutes over medium heat until the noodles have absorbed the sauce and turned soft, sticky and caramel-brown.
4. Taste: it should be sweet, tangy and salty. Add the bean sprouts and spring onions, toss for 30 seconds, and serve with lime.

Tips

• If the noodles are still firm when the sauce is gone, add water 2 tbsp at a time and keep tossing.
• Soybean paste and dark soy sauce usually contain wheat.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Marion's Kitchen Hungry in Thailand