When you go to Thailand, sitting at a noodle shop on the street somewhere, please order yourself a guay tiew tom yum ก๋วยเตี๋ยวต้มยำ, or tom yum noodle soup. This is not the famous tom yum soup that you might know...the one with lemongrass, galangal, and shrimp. Nope, but this is something else that's equally delicious and super easy to make!

You can technically turn any kind of regular noodle soups into "tom yum style", and what that means is the vendor will add a few things to the basic noodles: lime juice, roasted chili flakes, ground pork, and roasted peanuts. In other words, it's AMPED UP noodle soup that is spicy and sour and all kinds of yum.

One caveat though, typically you can only turn your soup into a tom yum noodle soup IF the broth is a clear broth. There are other types of noodle soups where the broth is dark, rich and full of spices like boat noodles, and for those you can't order it tom yum. But if the broth is clear, you can be pretty sure you can.

But enough about ordering them in Thailand, chances are you're not there right now, and thankfully it's quite easy to make at home! As with all noodle soups, the hard part is gathering ingredients, and making the broth is a bit time consuming, but once all the components are there, it's super quick to put together!

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Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you'll need with important notes to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below. There are many components to the dish but they are all simple and can all be made in advance!

Basic Pork Stock:

Most Thai noodle soups use pork stock as the base, so I recommend making it for the most authentic flavour. But if you don't eat pork, you can absolutely use chicken stock instead. Store bought stock is fine in a pinch, but I recommend homemade Thai style stock for the flavour closest to what you'll find in Thailand.

Pork bones, I usually use back bones or neck bones which you can find at most Asian butchers. After making stock, be sure to pick off the meat from the bones and you can add that to curries, soups, stir fries, anything!
Garlic, crushed just until broken
Cilantro roots, or substitute cilantro stems, chopped
White peppercorns, cracked or ground
Top half of lemongrass, cut into 2-inch pieces

Seasoned Ground Pork:

Ground pork (or substitute ground chicken)
Fish sauce

Fried Garlic and Garlic Oil

You can make this in bulk and in advance, keep in your fridge and use it on just about anything you want to add garlic flavour to. I always have this in my fridge! (Keep the fried garlic and oil separated so the garlic remains crispy.)

Garlic, chopped
Vegetable oil or any kind of neutral flavoured oil

Assembling the Noodles:

Sugar
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Roasted peanuts, coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle or just a few quick blitzes in a food processor.
Roasted chili flakes, to taste. This is added for heat, so feel free to add as much as you want. You can buy roasted chili flakes at Asian stores, or make your own by toasting spicy dried chilies (such as Thai or arbol chilies) in a dry skillet for a few minutes until charred spots form, then grind into flakes in a spice grinder.
Pork stock or chicken stock
Asian-style fish cakes, thinly sliced (store bought)
Fresh egg noodles (thin) or another noodle of your choice (see note). If using rice noodles, to ensure success see my guide for how to work with rice noodles.
Bean sprouts
Chopped cilantro, and/or green onions for garnish
Chili vinegar, optional. This is an optional condiment, but it is always served with noodle soups in Thailand. To make, simply chop some Thai chilies and cover with white vinegar and let sit for 15 minutes to infuse before using.

How to Make Thai Tom Yum Noodle Soup

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

For the broth:

Wash bones in cold water, then add to a large stock pot. Cover with about 3 L of cold water and bring to a simmer; let simmer for about 45-60 mins (do not let boil).
Skim off the scum that has floated to the top using a fine mesh skimmer or a ladle, then add garlic, cilantro roots, peppercorns, lemongrass. Simmer for 1 more hour then keep hot until ready to use.

For the ground pork:

Add water to a small pot, then bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Add ground pork and fish sauce and cook, stirring constantly to break up big chunks, until the pork is fully cooked.

For fried garlic:

Add garlic to a small pot and add just enough vegetable oil to barely cover. Fry over medium low heat until the garlic is golden brown.
Remove from heat and immediately transfer into a bowl to stop it from cooking further. (Note: For soups, you can keep the garlic in the oil, but if you want to keep the garlic crispy for sprinkling on other dishes, drain the garlic from the oil).

Assembly:

Blanch bean sprouts and fish cakes in boiling water for about 7-10 seconds just to heat them up, then remove from the water (keeping the water) and divide into serving bowls.
Cook noodles in the boiling water until it's just slightly underdone, drain and divide between serving bowls. To each bowl, add 2 heaping tablespoon of the cooked ground pork.
In a pot or a large bowl, make the broth by combining sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, ground peanuts, chili flakes, and 720 ml of the pork stock (make sure it is very hot!); stir to dissolve the sugar and pour the broth over the noodles.
Top each bowl with cilantro and fried garlic & garlic oil; serve immediately. After tasting, feel free to adjust the flavour with chili vinegar, more fish sauce, lime juice, sugar or chili flakes!

Recipe Card

Thai Tom Yum Noodle Soup (guay tiew tom yum)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 0 hours
Yield: 4 servings

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Description

A popular Thai street food, tom yum noodle soup takes the basil broth and amp it up with chilies, lime juice, ground pork, and roasted peanuts. It's super common in Thailand, but a rare find in Thai restaurants overseas. Thanksfull, it's super easy to make at home!

Instructions

For the broth:

Wash bones in cold water, then add to a large stock pot. Cover with about 3 L of cold water and bring to a simmer; let simmer for about 45-60 mins (do not let boil). Skim off the scum that has floated to the top using a fine mesh skimmer or a ladle, then add garlic, cilantro roots, peppercorns, lemongrass. Simmer for 1 more hour then keep hot until ready to use.

For the ground pork:

Add water to a small pot, then bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add ground pork and fish sauce and cook, stirring constantly to break up big chunks, until the pork is fully cooked.

For fried garlic:

Add garlic to a small pot and add just enough vegetable oil to barely cover. Fry over medium low heat until the garlic is golden brown. Remove from heat and immediately transfer into a bowl to stop it from cooking further. (Note: For soups, you can keep the garlic in the oil, but if you want to keep the garlic crispy for sprinkling on other dishes, drain the garlic from the oil).

Assembly:

Blanch bean sprouts and fish cakes in boiling water for about 7-10 seconds just to heat them up, then remove from the water (keeping the water) and divide into serving bowls.

Cook noodles in the boiling water until it's just slightly underdone, timing will vary with different types of noodles so you have to taste for doneness. Drain and divide noodles between serving bowls.

To each bowl, add 2 heaping tablespoons of the cooked ground pork.

In a medium pot, add the pork stock and heat it just until it is simmering gently (do not let it boil or it will reduce and you won't have enough broth). Turn off the heat and add the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, ground peanuts, and chili flakes; stir to dissolve the sugar and ladle broth over the noodles, starting with ¾ cup of broth per bowl, then divide the remaining broth evenly.

Top each bowl with cilantro and fried garlic & garlic oil; serve immediately. After tasting, feel free to adjust the flavour with chili vinegar, more fish sauce, lime juice, sugar or chili flakes!

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Notes

If making your own roasted chili flakes, toast some spicy dried chilies (Thai or arbol) in a dry skillet for a few minutes until charred spots form. Grind in a coffee grinder into small flakes.
Noodles: I recommend choosing thin noodles for this soup. The given weight is for fresh egg noodles only; if you use another kind of noodles, the weight will be different.
Chili vinegar is an optional condiment, but it is always served with noodle soups in Thailand. To make, simply chop some Thai chilies and cover with white vinegar and let sit for 15 minutes to infuse before using.

Tom Yum Noodle Soup (guay tiew tom yum)

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