Naam Yaa Neuua – Northern Style Naam Ya according to Lady Plean Passakornrawong (น้ำยาเหนือ)

In his poem, the young Prince writes:

“Love’s posture stands unyielding – forged as bitter naam yaa soup,
Its flavors twirl, entwined, and whole – admiration open yet hidden, perceived but veiled.”

ความรักยักเปลี่ยนท่า – ทำน้ำยาอย่างแกงขม
กล่อมรศกล่อมเกลี้ยงกลม – ชมไม่วายคลับคล้ายเห็น

(khwaam rak yak bpliian thaa – tham naam yaa yaang gaaeng khohm
glaawm roht glaawm gliiang glohm – chohm mai waai khlap khlaai hen)

The verse likens love to a bitter naam ya broth, signifying the intense yet stinging emotions associated with love. The use of food is a nod to the Prince’s affectionate reminiscences of the meals prepared by his lover, Princess Bunrot. The second line conveys how the couple’s love, despite its sharpness, is rounded, like a bitter medicinal curry featuring a complex blend of flavors. The dish serves as a metaphor for the varying emotions between the Prince and Princess – from the sweetness of their memories to the bitterness of their separation and the heat of their passion. Like the fermented rice noodles beneath the broth, it winds around the prince’s heart, signifying the tangle of emotions and a loss of thought in longing for his love.

To prepare the dish, Lady Plean Passakornrawong grates coconut and squeezes coconut cream, then she cleans the fish and removes the scales. She fills a pot with light coconut milk and cooks the fish and the aromatics – lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots and fingerroot – together until tender. Then she removes the fish and the aromatics from the pot and collects the fish meat, discarding the skin and bones. She pounds the fish meat together with the cooked aromatics into a smooth paste. During the pounding process, Lady Plean repetitively strains and collects the liquids and continues pounding until she gets a smooth and fluffy paste. She then dissolves the pounded fish paste, including the liquids she pressed out during the pounding process, with coconut cream. She noted that seasoning should be to one’s liking, be it fish sauce, fermented fish (pla ra) (ปลาร้า) or the head of the salted Indian salmon (ปลากุเลา); after all, when it comes to fermented fish products, one must have clear personal preferences. Once seasoned, she allows the broth to slow-cook until the mixture turns creamy in color and velvety in texture, a process that can take two to three hours.

Once ready, Lady Plean serves it over fermented rice noodles, accompanied by side dishes that include minced shrimp meat fried with their tomalley in pork lard, bean sprouts blanched in turmeric-tinted water, crispy-fried shallots, and lemon basil leaves.