Classic Thai Noodle Soup - Street Style
This simple noodle soup is the epitome of Thai street food. Your noodle of choice, in a comforting clear pork broth, topped with fish cakes or meatballs of your choice. Prep the stock in advance and you'll have the perfect quick meal for a cozy evening.
Ingredients
Pork Stock
- 2 lb pork neck bones or back bones , or sub chicken bones if you don’t eat pork
- 3.5 L water
- 4 inch piece daikon, peeled and large diced
- 1 medium onion, large dice
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed until broken
- 3 cilantro roots, or 8 cilantro stems, smashed gently to bruise
Broth
- 4 ½ cups Thai style pork stock, from above, see note 1
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1½ teaspoon sugar
- Ground white pepper, to taste
Noodle Soup
- 8 oz Thai rice vermicelli noodles, or another noodles of your choice (see note 2)
- 8 oz Asian style fish cakes and fish balls, or other types of meatballs of your choice
- 2 cups beansprouts
- Fried garlic and garlic oil, recipe here (see note 3)
- Chopped cilantro and/or green onions, for garnish
- Tang chai (salted cabbage bits), optional
Optional Tableside Condiments: Thai people always provide extra condiments for noodle soup so people can make it taste exactly how you want it. You can also make it “tom yum style,” more in the post above.
- Chili vinegar
- Fish sauce
- Sugar
- Roasted chili flakes, to make it spicy or if you want it tom yum style (see blog post above)
- 1 Lime, if you want to make it tom yum style
Notes
1. Please do not use store bought stock for this, it really will not be the same.
2. The weight given only applies to dry rice noodles. If using fresh egg noodles you’ll need about 12 oz for 4 servings. If using something else, please use your judgement and eyeball it!
3. Don’t skip the garlic oil! The aroma it adds to the soup is incredible and in Thailand no noodle soup is ever served without it! You can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge. More detail on my post on fried garlic and garlic ol.
2. The weight given only applies to dry rice noodles. If using fresh egg noodles you’ll need about 12 oz for 4 servings. If using something else, please use your judgement and eyeball it!
3. Don’t skip the garlic oil! The aroma it adds to the soup is incredible and in Thailand no noodle soup is ever served without it! You can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge. More detail on my post on fried garlic and garlic ol.
Instructions
For the pork stock:
- Wash the bones in cold water and add to a large stock pot. Cover the bones with room temp water and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium to medium-low to maintain a simmer, and after about 30 minutes of simmering, skim off the scum that has floated to the top.2 lb pork neck bones or back bones, 3.5 L water
- Add the daikon, onion, cilantro root or stems, garlic, and white pepper, then simmer gently for 1 more hour at minimum. You can keep it going for longer if you have time, just be sure to top up the water if needed to keep the bones submerged.4 inch piece daikon, 1 medium onion, 5 cloves garlic, 3 cilantro roots
- Once done, remove the bones with tongs and set aside to cool. Use a skimmer to fish out all the vegetables and discard; alternatively you can strain it through a colander.
- The stock is now ready to be used or stored. It will last a week in the fridge and it can be frozen indefinitely.
- Pick any meat off the pork bones, and you can toss it with some soy sauce and use it to top the noodle soup or keep it for another dish (you can add it to fried rice, curry, pasta dishes, anything you like!)
For the noodle soup:
- If using Thai rice vermicelli, soak the noodles in room temp water for 5-10 minutes until completely pliable - DO NOT OVER SOAK THEM. If using other kinds of noodles, change soaking time accordingly.)8 oz Thai rice vermicelli noodles
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for cooking the noodles (use A LOT of water so that temperature doesn’t drop drastically once you add the noodles). Meanwhile, add 4 ½ cups of the pork stock to another pot and add soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and ground white pepper and bring to a boil.4 ½ cups Thai style pork stock, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon fish sauce, 1½ teaspoon sugar, Ground white pepper
- Once the broth is boiling, add the fish cakes/balls and cook them for about 30 seconds or until heated through. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as needed, making sure the broth is strongly seasoned as it’ll be diluted once the noodles are added. Cover and keep hot while you cook the noodles.8 oz Asian style fish cakes and fish balls
- Once the blanching water is boiling, place 1 portion of the noodles and 1 handful of bean sprouts into a noodle strainer or metal sieve that fits inside the pot. Dunk the noodles into the water and shake them around for 3 seconds (or change cooking time accordingly if using other noodles). Lift the noodles out, shake off as much excess water as you can, and place into a serving bowl. Repeat with the remaining portions of noodles, waiting for the water to come back to a boil each time before you cook the next portion.2 cups beansprouts
- Ladle the broth and the fish balls over the cooked noodles, then top with garlic oil, fried garlic, tang chai, and green onions and/or cilantro. For a hot and sour “tom yum style” add a good amount of spicy roasted chili flakes and a good squeeze of lime (about 2-3 teaspoon of lime juice per bowl), plus about ¼ teaspoon of sugar to help balance the lime.Fried garlic and garlic oil, Chopped cilantro and/or green onions, Tang chai (salted cabbage bits)
- Serve with tableside condiments, if desired.
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