"WOW" Mama Tom Yum Noodles (Jeh O Chula)
A viral dish from Jeh O, a popular restaurant in Bangkok, with lines out the door daily. Mama instant noodles in a rich and creamy tom yum broth, loaded with luxurious toppings. It was worth lining up for, and this recipe gets it almost identical to the real thing!
Ingredients
Pork Meatballs (moo deng):
- ¼ teaspoon white peppercorns
- 1 clove garlic
- 9 oz ground pork
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 small ice cube, optional
Other Toppings (all optional, and amounts are just suggestions)
- 4 pieces crispy pork belly
- 3 big shrimp
- 3.5 oz squid or crab meat
- ¼ cup chopped sawtooth coriander , or sub cilantro
- 8 thin slices of lime
- 2 egg yolks, (keep them well wrapped so the don't dry out)
Tom Yum Mama:
- 4 lime leaves, torn into chunks and centre rib removed
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bottom half only, sliced diagonally into ½-inch thick pieces
- 10 thin slices galangal
- ¼ cup Thai chili paste, see note 1
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped Thai chilies, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chili paste oil , see note 2
- 3 cups pork stock, unsalted (or use the meatball cooking water)
- 2 packs Creamy Tom Yum Mama noodles, see note 3
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup evaporated milk
Notes
- If possible, use Chua Hah Seng chili paste, which is the brand Jeh O uses, though I've not seen this in the export market. Otherwise look for Maepranom, and if all else fails, Pantai brand is fine.
- Chili paste oil is the oil that is on top of the Thai chili paste jar. If you don't have much of it, you can omit, or use another chili oil that doesn't have too much of other strong "irrelevant" flavours.
- Two packs of Creamy Tom Yum Mama is a total of 180 g of noodles. You can also use 3.25 packs of regular size tom yum Mama.
Instructions
Make the meatballs and cook the seafood:
- Bring at least 4 cups of water to a boil for cooking the pork. Meanwhile, pound the garlic and peppercorns into a paste.1 clove garlic, ¼ teaspoon white peppercorns
- Add the pork into a food processor and add the garlic paste, all of the seasonings, and a small ice cube. Blitz until the pork resembles a paste, which should only take 15-20 seconds. It does not have to be super smooth. Scrape down sides as needed.If you don't have a food processor, simply knead all meatball ingredients together well with your hand. The texture of the meatball will be rougher, but it's okay.9 oz ground pork, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 2 teaspoon sugar, 1 small ice cube
- Roll the pork into balls, about ½-inch in diameter, then add them all into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove with a wire skimmer and set aside.
- Use the same water to blanch your shrimp and/or squid, just until they are done, then fish them out and set aside.3 big shrimp
For the Mama Tom Yum Noodle Soup:
- * This dish takes just a few minutes to make and must be eaten immediately after cooking so make sure you’re ready to eat before you start!
- In a medium size pot, add the lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, chopped chilies, chili paste, chili paste oil, fish sauce, lime juice, and all of the seasoning packets that come with the noodles (the chili powder is optional). Add the pork stock (or use 3 cups of the meatball cooking water) and bring to a boil.4 lime leaves, 1 stalk lemongrass, 10 thin slices galangal, ¼ cup Thai chili paste, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, ¼ cup lime juice, 2 tablespoons chopped Thai chilies, or to taste, 2 tablespoons chili paste oil, 2 packs Creamy Tom Yum Mama noodles, 3 cups pork stock
- Once the broth is vigorously boiling, add the noodle blocks and pour the egg whites directly on top of the noodles so the noodles help breakup the whites. At first the noodle block on top will not be submerged, so I ladle the broth over the top and keep pushing it down and eventually the bottom noodles will soften which will make room for all the noodles to become submerged.2 egg whites
- After about 1 minute, the noodles should be mostly loosened from their block shape, turn off the heat and stir in the evaporated milk. (Be careful not to overcook the noodles. Mama noodles are already fully cooked, so they just need to be softened, and they will continue to soften after the heat is off, so at this point it should be a little firm.)½ cup evaporated milk
- Immediately pour the noodles into a large serving bowl and quickly arrange all the toppings on top and serve immediately. Mama noodles swell up quickly even off heat so you want to eat as quickly as possible after cooking (and taking a photo)!4 pieces crispy pork belly, 3.5 oz squid or crab meat, ¼ cup chopped sawtooth coriander, 8 thin slices of lime, 2 egg yolks
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