Boat Noodles : Although the ingredient list appears lengthy, the dish is actually quite simple! And don’t forget that you can prepare all of the ingredients for this dish ahead of time and keep them chilled.
And after everything is ready, it only takes a few minutes to assemble. That explains why Thai noodle sellers can serve this dish to you so fast! In fact, if you make all the components on the weekend, boat noodles can be a quick weeknight meal.
But even if you’re not going to make anything in advance, you can prep all of the components while the broth is simmering. So it’s really not going to take as long as you think.
Boat Noodles
Ingredients
COMPONENTS OF BOAT NOODLES
- Broth (recipe below)
- 7 oz. (200 g) rice noodles, dry, small size
- 12 pork or beef balls (optional)
- Marinated pork (recipe below)
- 2 cups spinach, water spinach, or other vegetable of your choice
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- ½ cup beef or pork blood, thawed (1–2 tablespoon per person), or substitute coconut milk
- Fried garlic & garlic oil
- ½ cup cilantro or green onions, chopped
- Thai basil or holy basil (optional)
- Crispy pork rind (optional)
- Chili flakes (to taste, optional)
- Chili vinegar
BROTH
- 3 L water
- 2 lb pork or beef/veal bones
- top half of 1 stalk of lemongrass
- 1 medium onion, rough chopped
- 2–3 cilantro roots, crushed or 6–8 stems
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 10 pc galangal
- 1 pandan leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 1 tsp toasted coriander seeds
- ¼ tsp white pepper, ground
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Golden Mountain Sauce
- 1.5 Tbsp black soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Tao jiew or fermented soy bean paste, mashed (can substitute 1.5 Tbsp miso paste)
- 2 Tbsp white vinegar
- 20 g. rock sugar or granulated sugar
- 1–2 teaspoon of salt, to taste
MARINATED PORK
- 200g pork loin, thinly sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp sugar
CHILI VINEGAR
- 2 spur chilies, or any other kind of medium-spicy chilies such as jalapenos, serranos, or fresno. For extra spicy vinegar, you can add Thai chilies or use habaneros.
- 2 cloves garlic
- White vinegar, ¼-½ cup as needed
ALSO SEE
Instructions
Regarding the broth:
- Fill a large stock pot with water and pork bones, making sure the bones are well submerged. After bringing to a simmer, cook for 45 minutes.
- Skim off the scum that has risen to the top after 45 minutes.
- Simmer the other ingredients for the broth for an additional hour, excluding the salt. Prepare the chili vinegar and soak the noodles (recipes below) while the broth is cooking.
- Once the soup is cooked, taste it and add more salt or spices if necessary. Add more water to dilute if it’s too salty. Keep in mind that the noodles and vegetables will dilute the flavor of the broth, so season it heavily.
- After straining the soup, it’s ready to use. The broth keeps well in the refrigerator for many days after being prepared ahead of time. A helpful hint would be to remove any excess flesh from the bones and consume it with your soup!
Regarding the chili vinegar:
- In the oven, broil the garlic cloves and chilies until the garlic cloves are browned and the chilies are scorched. They can also be pan-seared or grilled.
- Chop the chilies coarsely, then add them to a small blender with the garlic. Add enough white vinegar to cover the ingredients so that the blender can combine them effortlessly.
- If the mixture seems too thick, add additional vinegar and blend until there are no more large bits. In the event that you lack a blender, you can rather use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and chiles into a paste before adding vinegar.
For the noodles:
- For tiny-sized rice noodles (“sen lek”), soak the noodles in cold water for 10 to 15 minutes; for thin rice noodles (“sen mee”), soak them for 5 minutes. This will merely make the noodles soft and malleable.
- After the noodles are tender, drain them and store them, covered, in the refrigerator until use. Drain and set aside the noodles. If they become dry, simply soak them for a while longer to rehydrate.
To Assemble:
- To blanch noodles, bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Simmer the broth in a covered saucepan (approximately 1 cup per person) and keep it hot and covered until you’re ready to use it. This will happen while the blanching water is heating up. Because you don’t want the broth to reduce any further, don’t allow it boil uncovered.
- Place one portion of the noodles, bean sprouts, and spinach in a colander or noodle strainer, and blanch for five seconds in hot water.
- After draining, move to a serving bowl. (Note: Since it becomes challenging to separate noodles once they are blanched, I advise blanching one portion at a time.)
- To blanch noodles, bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Simmer the broth in a covered saucepan (approximately 1 cup per person) and keep it hot and covered until you’re ready to use it. This will happen while the blanching water is heating up. Because you don’t want the broth to reduce any further, don’t allow it boil uncovered.
- Place one portion of the noodles, bean sprouts, and spinach in a colander or noodle strainer, and blanch for five seconds in hot water.
- After draining, move to a serving bowl. (Note: Since it becomes challenging to separate noodles once they are blanched, I advise blanching one portion at a time.)
