Nam Prik Curry Noodles (Kanom Jin Nam Prik)
Submitted by Cherry
Thai kanom jin nam prik curry noodles built on a fragrant coconut-moong bean sauce with red curry paste, tamarind, and crispy fried shallots and garlic. Rich, tangy, and earthy, served over soft rice noodles with long beans and sprouts.
YIELD
3 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minKanom jin nam prik is one of those old-school Thai dishes that rewards patience. The sauce gets its body from pounded moong dal, which melts into the coconut milk and thickens it to a velvety consistency without needing a roux or cornstarch. That’s the whole trick to this one.
A paste of coriander roots, shallots, and garlic goes in next, followed by red curry paste, tamarind, and lime. Each layer builds on the last, earthy, sour, a little smoky from the fried shallots stirred in at the end.
The noodles themselves are soft fresh rice noodles (kanom jin), topped with long beans and bean sprouts for crunch. Pound the aromatics properly in a mortar, a food processor shreds instead of crushing, and you lose the fragrant oils that make this sauce sing.
Chef Tips
- Soak the moong dal for at least 2 hours before pounding so it breaks down into a smooth paste instead of gritty bits.
- Fry the shallots and garlic in batches and pull them the moment they turn pale gold, they keep cooking off the heat and burnt aromatics will ruin the finished sauce.
- Split the coconut milk as written: the first half goes in with the paste to bloom the curry, the second thins the sauce at the end.
- Rinse the rice noodles in cool water before serving to keep them from clumping.
Variations
- Stir in a handful of torn basil leaves at the end for a sharper herbal lift.
- Swap tamarind for a squeeze of extra lime if you can’t find tamarind paste.
- Add a spoon of palm sugar in place of granulated for a deeper caramel sweetness.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the oil until a light haze forms, then fry half the shallots and half the garlic until crispy brown.
Drain and set aside, keeping the oil for the Fried Dry Chilis.
Drain the moong beans, place in a mortar, pound well to form a paste and set aside.
In the mortar, pound together the coriander roots with the remaining shallots and garlic until a paste forms, then set aside.
In a frying pan or wok heat the remaining unused oil, stir in the red curry paste and cook.
Add half the coconut milk, stirring well, add the paste of coriander root, shallot and garlic and thoroughly mix.
Add in the moong bean paste and stir well.
Add the soy sauce, sugar and tamarind juice, lemon juice and chili powder, stirring constantly.
Put the two halves of the kaffir lime into the mixture and continue to cook gently.
Thin the remaining coconut milk with the water then stir in to the sauce and boil.
Simmer for 1 minute.
Quickly stir in the crispy shallot and garlic mix and immediately turn into a serving bowl.
Save the remaining oil for the side dish.
Comments
