Every morning in Bangkok, on my way back from exercising in the park, I stop at a favorite street food vendor of mine to see what he is cooking. He cooks a different soup every morning so I am always curious what is in his pot each day. On this day, I was so excited to see that he had made Khanom Jeen Nam Ngiaw. This is a speciality from northern Thailand so it was a real treat to be able to have it for breakfast in Bangkok. The signature ingredient of this soup is the dried flowers of the red cotton tree. The soup also has blood cakes, pork ribs and fresh and pickled vegetables. To personalize the flavor of the soup he gave me fiery hot dried chilies, fried garlic and pickled chilies. So, when you mix up the condiments into the soup it has a rich, tangy and spicy flavor. The fresh noodles are soft and the raw vegetables add a great crunchy texture.
If you find yourself in Bangkok and would like to sample a soup like this one, you can find my soup friend on Sukhumvit soi 24/1. This is an alley and not a real street. It is below the Phrom Phong BTS station and one street up from Soi 24 where Emporium is. In the morning, around 7am, when I am here, you will see a long line of people waiting for motorcycle taxis at this address.
Thanks for stopping by today to read my post. Please ask me any questions about this dish in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chef Steve
