What I liked almost as much as the taste, was that on three separate occasions—after I had asked for the somewhat confusing* Khao Soi—three owners/aunties/streetfood chefs looked over their inventory and basically said “I don’t have the ingredients”. I liked that because not only was this a simple dish, it was one that—even though I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell if one or two parts were missing—such pride went into this dish that no one dare serve an inferior one.
Nicknamed “Spaghetti Pho” in part to its thick noodles and meat + tomato sauce, Laos* Khao Soi is said to have first arrived in Northern Thailand/Laos by way of the spice route (although, admittedly I never found out how and where the tomato sauce came about, as this is a very non-Asian sauce) and has since become the unofficial dish (that title belongs to laab) of the Northern Lao region.
And I loved it. I loved it for its delicate flavors—Thai food is some of the best food in the world, but is a constant assault on all senses—and for its comforting aspect as well. The meat makes it hearty. The tomato sauce makes it friendly. The pork crackling makes it tasty. And the noodles fill you up. Plus, it’s easy to pronounce.
So what’s in it? Well, here - I’ll just list out every ingredient I saw used, and found online. IF you happen to have all of these, this is an absolutely stellar dish:
1 kg fresh rice noodle (banh pho) or 400 gm of dried flat rice noodles (available at Asian grocers)
Soup Base
2 chicken frames / carcasses, washed and cleaned
2.5 L water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Meat Sauce
1 tbsp canola oil
7 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced finely
500 gm pork mince
1 can crushed tomatoes (400 gm)
1 cup soy bean paste
pepper, (to taste)
Garnish
8 sprigs coriander roughly chopped
1 packet pork crackling broken up (optional and available at Asian grocery)
To Serve
150 gm bean sprouts (optional but recommended)
1 bunch watercress (optional but recommended)
2 birds eye chillies, chopped (optional)
Condiments
sriracha / chilli sauce (optional)
fish sauce (optional)
… if you have those, then get cooking. By the time I write this, you read this, you remember this, you buy the ingredients and you remember to cook it, it’ll be autumn and this is a perfect autumn dish—something SE Asian food rarely is, IMO.
As for the recipe, seeing how I just copy + pasted from the closest thing I found in Laos, I’ll send you to Scruff & Steff’s page, who do a fantastic job of laying it all out easily.
Tag me in the photo!
