Thai Beef Noodles Soup, "Kuaitiao Neua"

This soup is a popular light meal in Thailand, and often sold by "stop me and buy one" hawkers who pedal tricycles around the streets. The traditional form is made from beef offal, and contains cow's blood. However the dish can be made quite well from any cut of beef, and the blood can be omitted, or replaced as in this version, by red wine.

The noodles should be cut into handleable pieces so that they can be eaten with a spoon.

Nam kaeng jued (soup stock)

Ingredients

10 cups of water
4 cups of beef bones
2 onions, with skin, quartered
2 coriander roots, chopped
7-8 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
1 tablespoon ginger, grated.

Method

Break the bones with a hammer, and roast them for 15 minutes in a hot oven. Bring the water to a boil, and add the vegetables and the bones to the pot. Boil gently for an hour. Boil vigorously to reduce to about half the volume you started with. Allow to cool, skim off the fat, filter through a fine seive.

Kuaitiao neua

Ingredients

4 cups of stock
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef (any cut), cubed.
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup mushrooms (any variety)
1/2 cup shallots, sliced
1 tablespoon Thai chile peppers, sliced
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 cup rice noodles, soaked

Method

Soak the noodles for 15 minutes, and then chop them into 2-3" long pieces for ease of eating. Heat the stock to a gentle simmer, and add the wine, and all the other ingredients except the beef, mushrooms and noodles. When the stock is again boiling add the beef and simmer until the beef is tender. Add the mushrooms and noodles, and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Garnish with a few coriander leaves and serve with the nam jim described below.

Nam jim rod dedt (chili vinegar with garlic and vinegar)

This sauce will keep indefinitely.

Ingredients

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fish sauce
3 cups white rice vinegar
3 tablespoons palm sugar
6 cups Thai chile peppers, sliced
6 tablespoons garlic, minced
6 tablespoons ginger, grated
6 tablespoons coriander/cilantro, including roots, chopped

Method

Heat the water, fish sauce and vinegar, and dissolve the sugar. Allow to cool, and then add all the ingredients to a food processor and process to a smooth paste. If you prefer a thinner consistency you can increase the amounts of water, fish sauce and vinegar.