Naam Yaa Jeen – Fermented Rice Noodles with Chinese Sauce by HRH Prince Krom Luang Pitak Montri (น้ำยาจีน อย่างกรมหลวงพิทักษมนตรี)

The prince deployed three meats, a cooking technique that indeed fits the dish’s name. Cooking multiple proteins is prevalent in Chinese cuisine and also a common Siamese technique. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, different ingredients have varying natures and flavors that, when cooked together, can produce a synergistic blend of nutritional benefits, energies and medicinal properties, thereby promoting general health and well-being.

As well, the slow simmering used in this dish is an acclaimed Chinese cooking technique – one that helps to gently draw out the nutrients of the ingredients, their deepest essences and profound flavors, thus facilitating digestion and the absorption of nutrients in our bodies, providing a steady and gentle source of energy and fostering a sense of well-nourishment.

In the note section of the recipe, Lady Plean Passakornrawong describes the taste of the broth to be “usual”. It uses a chili-less paste that highlights garlic over shallots, substitutes fermented shrimp paste (kapi) with smoke-dried fish (ปลาย่างรมควัน), and incorporates medicinal roots such as galangal, fingerroot and sand ginger.

In typical phrik khing (พริกขิง) pastes, ginger-like rhizomes are used in equal or lesser amounts compared to that of the galangal; here, however, sand ginger dominates, bestowing upon the dish robust and distinctive jungle curry-like characteristics, and suggesting a culinary connection between naam ya dishes and medicinal curries such as gaaeng yaa (แกงยา).

To cook the dish, Lady Plean Passakornrawong fills a pot with water and brings it to a boil. She prepares the primary proteins, which consist of a whole chicken, pork meat and shrimps. The chicken is cut into chunks and cleaned thoroughly; the pork is also cut into big cubes; and the shrimps are peeled and deveined. Lady Plean places the meats in the pot, covers it, and allows it to simmer for relatively long time, “to draw out the chicken’s natural sweetness”, while stirring occasionally.

When the broth is ready, she removes the meat from the pot, saving the chicken breast to be served later in thin pulled threads as part of the toppings. She cuts the rest of the meats into smaller, square-shaped pieces. She then dilutes the curry paste in the broth, adds it back into the pot with the sliced meats and allows the paste to properly cook.

Lady Plean then seasons the dish with fish sauce and palm sugar to a salty-sweet flavor profile. She recommends serving it over fermented rice noodles or khohn ma rang rai (ขนมรังไร) with toppings of crispy fried shallots, crispy fried garlic, coriander leaves and the chicken breast threads.

For The Paste:

น้ำยาจีน อย่างกรมหลวงพิทักษมนตรี

This historic dish is a unique variant of naam yaa, a curry traditionally served over khanom jeen fermented rice noodles. Distinguishing itself from the usual spicy, coconut-based curries, it features a light ivory broth, rich with the sweetness derived from slow-braising chicken, pork, and shrimp, alongside a flavorful curry paste enhanced by smoke-dried fish and aromatic roots like galangal, fingerroot, and sand ginger. The curry is presented over a bed of fermented rice noodles and elegantly garnished with threads of pulled chicken breast, crispy fried shallots and garlic, and fresh green coriander leaves and spring onion, lending the dish a beautiful visual appeal and a touch of freshness. Its creation reflects the cultural synthesis and resilience of the Siamese people during the historical transition from the Ayutthaya to the Rattanakosin Kingdom, a legacy preserved through the culinary traditions of the aristocracy and popularized by Lady Plean Passakornrawong in her 1908 book.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Course Noodles, light meal

Cuisine Thai

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the broth:

• 600 g whole, free-range chicken (ไก่บ้าน) cut into relatively large pieces.
• 200 g pork meat (เนื้อหมู) cut into relatively large pieces.
• 300 g shrimp (กุ้ง) peeled and deveined
• 2 stalks lemongrass (ตะไคร้)
• 2 liters water (น้ำเปล่า)

For the paste:

• 1 teaspoon sea salt (เกลือทะเล)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons galangal (ข่า)
• 2 tablespoons fingerroot (krachai) (กระชาย)
• 2 tablespoons sand ginger (เปราะหอม)
• 2 teaspoons coriander roots (รากผักชี)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai garlic (กระเทียมไทย)
• 1 tablespoon shallots (หอมแดง)
• 2 tablespoons smoke-dried fish (all varieties) (ปลาย่างรมควัน)
• 1 teaspoon white peppercorns (พริกไทย) (S1)

Season with

• 1 part fish sauce (น้ำปลา)
• 1/2 part palm sugar (น้ำตาลมะพร้าว)

To Serve:

• crispy fried shallots (หอมแดงเจียว)
• crispy fried garlic (กระเทียมเจียว)
• coriander leaves (ใบผักชี)
• spring onion (ต้นหอม)
• fermented rice noodles (khanohm jeen) (ขนมจีน)

Instructions

 

• Prepare the shrimp: peel and devein the shrimp.
• Prepare the meat: cut one whole chicken and the pork into relatively large chunks. Clean them thoroughly.
  
• Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil with a stalk of bruised lemongrass.
  
• Place the chicken, pork and shrimp into the boiling water. Cover the pot and let it simmer on low heat, allowing the water to draw out the “sweetness from the meat.” Stir occasionally.
  
• Once the meat is tender, remove it from the pot and cut it into small, square pieces.
  
• Set aside the chicken breast, for shredding.
  
• An overview of the curry paste ingredients.
  
• Roast the smoke-dried fish. Collect its meat, discarding the bones and abdomen. Pound the smoked fish meat in a mortar and pestle into a powder.
  
• Pound the curry paste; start with the coriander roots and salt.
• Add the galangal, fingerroot and sand ginger.
• Add the garlic and the shallots.
• Pound all the paste ingredients into a smooth paste.
  
• Return the shrimp, pork and chicken to the pot. Stir carefully to prevent clumping.
• Add the paste to the pot.
  
• Season with fish sauce and palm sugar at the ratios indicated.
  
• Let the sauce simmer until it is well mixed, then remove from the heat. Serve the broth over fermented rice noodles.
• Garnish with pulled chicken breast threads, golden-crispy fried shallots and garlic, and coriander leaves and spring onion.
  

Keyword fermented rice noodles (ขนมจีน)

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