Most people know “tom yum” as Thailand’s famous hot and sour soup, but this soupless tom yum noodles is completely different. Chewy rice noodles are tossed in a sauce that’s equal parts sweet-salty-spicy and sour, and topped with peanuts, fried garlic, and many other tasty toppings. It is so little-known, but it’s one of my favourites! It is wildly popular amongst Thai people as a quick street food lunch, and with this recipe, you can recreate that experience in your home with ease!
Some Cultural Context: Tom Yum Noodles in Thailand
While you probably know tom yum as the lemongrass-infused soup, in Thailand, when we use the word “tom yum” in the context of noodles, it’s referring to a style of seasoning that is spicy and sour. Let me explain:
When you go to a standard noodle soup stall in Thailand, you can order the noodles “regular,” or you can order it “tom yum style.” If you order it tom yum style, in addition to the usual seasonings that’s already in the broth, which is primarily salty and a little sweet, they will also add lime juice, roasted chili flakes, ground peanuts, and ground pork. The result is a noodle soup that is salty, sweet, spicy and sour in equal measure, with extra texture added. It is very popular for people who love a strongly flavoured dish!
The customization doesn’t stop there. You also have to choose whether you want your tom yum noodles with soup, or you want it soupless as we are making in this recipe!
What is a soupless noodle soup??
In Thailand, for many types of noodle soups, you can order them soupless. So instead of the broth, the vendor will toss the noodles in a mixture of seasonings, such as soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, etc. All the toppings are kept the same. It’s a great option for when it’s just too hot for hot soup!
So in this recipe, we are making it noodles that are soupless and tom yum style, which is one of my absolute favourite ways to eat noodles in Thailand!
Ingredients and Notes
Here are the ingredients you’ll need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.
Noodles and Sauce
- Dry rice noodles, size small. While you can technically choose other kinds of noodles, I recommend these small rice noodles as I think they work the best with this style of seasoning. They’re also widely available. Do make sure you buy the small size (the blue package in the pic above) because bigger noodles don’t taste as good. My instructions are based on Erawan brand, if using other brands, soaking and cooking time may differ.
- Garlic oil. Absolutely crucial part of the noodle seasoning. It will give tons of flavour and also keep the noodles moist and not stuck together. You’ll make it simply by frying some garlic, and you can keep it both the garlic and the oil in the fridge for months.
- Lime juice
- Fish sauce.
- Sugar
- Chicken bouillon powder (or if you can get pork flavoured one that works too). This adds a lovely umami that makes a difference in the dish. I use Knorr brand and you can get it at most Asian grocery stores. You can also substitute a smidge of Better Than Bouillon paste, or a pinch of MSG. You can also omit it if needed.
- Roasted chili flakes. In Thailand the chili flakes are always roasted for a slightly smoky flavour, but you can just use any kind of spicy chili powder or chili flakes you have in your kitchen. If you want to make it, see my recipe for how to make Thai style roasted chili flakes.
Noodle Bowl Toppings
- Asian style meatballs. Choose any kind of Asian style meatballs you like – chicken, pork, beef or fish. You can also omit them and use a little more of the other proteins. You can find these fresh or frozen at any Asian grocery stores. Or you can DIY with my homemade Asian meatballs recipe.
- Roasted peanuts, unsalted. I grind my peanuts by pounding in a mortar and pestle, but you can also pulse them in a coffee grinder or a small food processor. Do not powderize them; think coarse sand with bigger pieces of pebbles mixed in.
- Ground dried shrimp (optional). This adds a lovely umami and a seafood flavour. To grind dried shrimp, simply blitz them in a coffee grinder or blender until they are fluffy. They will keep in the fridge for months. (If you dried shrimp are really big, they may jam the blade of your coffee grinder, in which case roughly chop them first.)
- Fried garlic, while you can buy fried garlic at the Asian store, I want you to make it from raw garlic because you will need the garlic oil for the sauce. It is very simple and takes 5 minutes! Recipe is included.
- Green onions, chopped
- Cilantro, chopped, can omit if you don’t like it.
- Bean sprouts
- Wedges of lime for serving, in case someone wants it extra tart.
Process Overview
Here’s a bird’s eye view of what you’ll need to do. The full instructions is in the recipe card below. If it’s your first time, I recommend watching the video tutorial in the recipe card to ensure success! Note: It only looks long, but every step is short and simple!
- Soak noodles for 25-30 mins in room temp water until fully pliable. Drain. (Noodles can be drained and kept covered in the fridge for a few days)
- Cook the ground pork with fish sauce in some boiling water until cooked and broken up.
- Use a slotted spoon to scoop the ground pork out, reserve the pork cooking liquid.
- Marinate the sliced pork in soy sauce and sugar. Mix well.
- Fry chopped garlic in neutral oil on low heat, stirring frequently, until golden.
- Drain and keep both the oil and the garlic separated. They can both be kept in the fridge for a few months.
- Prepare the sauce: Add all the sauce ingredients and 1 tablespoon of the reserved pork cooking liquid in EACH serving bowl. No need to stir them.
- Bring a large pot of water to a full boil. Meanwhile, separate the noodles into equal portions, preferably using a scale to ensure each portion is even. Also, make sure all toppings are prepped and ready to go.
- When ready to serve, boil the meatballs for about a minute just to heat through (they’re already cooked). Remove with a wire skimmer and set aside in a bowl.
- Place the sliced pork into a noodle strainer or sieve and dunk it into the boiling water. Stir it around for 20 seconds or until cooked through, then drain and set aside in a bowl.
- *Do not cook noodles unless people are ready to eat as it should be eaten immediately after it’s done.
Place one portion of noodles into a noodle strainer or sieve, then once the water comes back to a full boil, dunk the noodles in and swish it around for 10 seconds ONLY. If it’s your first time, taste a little bit of the noodles – it should still be chewy in the middle but it should not taste raw or feels hard in the middle. If noodles are tender throughout, they are overcooked – reduce cooking time for the next batch to 7-8 seconds. - Immediately add the noodles into the serving bowl with the sauce in it and mix well.
- Add a small handful of beansprouts and mix briefly.
- Top the noodles with all of the toppings and serve immediately.
- Mix the noodles well before eating. Enjoy!
Advance Prep Tips
You can make everything all in one shot, but if you want to serve it on a weeknight or for a dinner party where you’ll be busy with things, I recommend you get these tasks below done before serving day and it’ll make everything much easier!
- Make the garlic oil in advance and keep in the fridge. They will last many weeks.
- Roast and grind the peanuts, then keep in a sealed container in the fridge. This will last many weeks.
- Grind the dried shrimp ahead of time and keep in the fridge. This will last many weeks.
- Soak and drain the noodles up to a few days ahead.
- Marinate the sliced pork a day ahead.
Soupless Tom Yum Noodles
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry rice noodles, size small soak in room temp water for 30 mins until fully pliable then drain
Marinated pork
- 6 oz pork tenderloin, loin, or leg meat very thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
Seasoned Ground Pork
- 6 oz lean ground pork or sub ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
Tom Yum Noodle Sauce
*Amounts below are for ONE serving bowl; you’ll be mixing up each bowl separately
- 1 Tablespoon garlic oil (recipe below)
- 2 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon chicken or pork bouillon powder (see note 1)
- ½-1 teaspoon roasted chili flakes or as much as you like
Noodle Bowl Toppings
- 5.3 oz Asian style meatballs cut in bite-sized pieces (see note 2)
- ⅓ cup roasted peanuts coarsely ground (see note 3)
- 2 Tablespoons ground dried shrimp optional (see note 4)
- 2 teaspoons fried garlic recipe below
- 2 green onions chopped
- 20 sprigs cilantro chopped
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- Wedges of lime for serving
Fried Garlic & Garlic Oil
- 8 cloves garlic chopped
- ⅓ cup neutral oil
Instructions
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For the fried garlic and garlic oil: Add the oil to a small pot and place it on medium high heat. Add one piece of garlic as a “tester” and wait for it to start bubbling. Once the garlic bubbles, turn the heat down to medium low add the remaining garlic. Stir the garlic constantly until the it’s golden (not browned) and the bubbling has mostly subsided, about 5 minutes. Drain through a metal sieve and keep the garlic and the oil separated.8 cloves garlic, ⅓ cup neutral oil
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Make the marinated pork by combine the sliced pork with all the soy sauce and sugar and mix until you no longer see any sauce pooling at the bottom. Set aside.6 oz pork tenderloin, loin, or leg meat, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
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Cook the ground pork: In a medium pot, add about ¼ cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the ground pork and fish sauce and stir until the pork is fully cooked, breaking up the lumps. Use a slotted spoon to remove the ground pork and reserve the cooking liquid.6 oz lean ground pork, 1 teaspoon fish sauce
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Close to serving time, bring a large pot of water to a full boil; be sure to add lots of water so the noodles can be fully submerged while inside a sieve.
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Meanwhile, divide the drained noodles into 4 equal portions (or however many portions you’re making) as you will be cooking one portion at a time. If possible, use a scale to make sure all portions are exactly equal. You can place them on a tray and use paper towel to keep them separated.8 oz dry rice noodles, size small
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Mix the noodle sauce. In each of the serving bowl, add 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) of the reserved ground pork cooking liquid. Then add all the tom yum noodle sauce ingredients into each bowl; set aside.1 Tablespoon garlic oil (recipe below), 2 teaspoon lime juice, 1 ½ teaspoon fish sauce, 1 ¼ teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon chicken or pork bouillon powder, ½-1 teaspoon roasted chili flakes
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When the water is boiling, add the Asian meatballs and let them cook for a minute or so just until heated through (they are already cooked). Fish them out and side aside.5.3 oz Asian style meatballs
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In the same pot, place the sliced pork into a noodle strainer, wire skimmer, or metal sieve then dunk it into the boiling water and shake it around for 30 seconds or so, just until the pork is cooked through; remove and set aside. Do not over cook the pork!
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Put out all noodle bowl toppings so they are ready for people to top their bowls. Don’t start cooking the noodles until all toppings are ready as this dish needs to be eaten as quickly as possible after the noodles are tossed. Also make sure the people are there and ready to eat.
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Cook the noodles: Allow the water to come back to a full boil. Put one portion of soaked noodles in a noodle strainer or a sieve, then dunk it in the boiling water and wiggle it around for 10 seconds ONLY. Lift them out and shake off excess water well. Check doneness by tasting a noodle, and it should still be a little chewy in the middle, but not hard. If they are fully tender, reduce the cooking time to 7-8 seconds for the next one.
*Without a noodle strainer, you can blanch the noodles directly in the pot and scoop them out with a wire skimmer or sieve.
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Add the noodles to the serving bowl with the sauce inside and immediately toss to mix. Then add a small handful of bean sprouts and mix briefly. Ideally at this point you hand it off to the diner to put their own toppings on while you cook the remaining portions.2 cups bean sprouts
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Top each noodle bowl with ROUGHLY the following: A few pieces of sliced pork, a few pieces of meatballs, 2 tablespoons of the ground pork, 1 heaping tablespoon of ground peanuts, 1 teaspoon of dried shrimp fluff, 1 heaping teaspoon of fried garlic, and a generous amount of chopped cilantro and green onions.
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Serve immediately with a wedge of lime for those who might want it more sour. Mix well before eating.
Video
Notes
- I use Knorr chicken bouillon powder which is available at most Asian grocery stores. You can also use ¼ teaspoon of bouillon paste such as Better Than Bouillon, sub with a pinch of MSG, or omit.
- Choose any kind of Asian style meatballs you like – chicken, pork, beef or fish. You can also omit them and use a little more of the other proteins.
- I grind my peanuts in a mortar and pestle, but you can also pulse them in a coffee grinder or a small food processor. Do not powderize them; think coarse sand with pieces of small pebbles mixed in.
- Start out with a heaping tablespoon of dried shrimp, then simply blitz them in a coffee grinder until they are fluffy. If they are very large you may need to chop them first. Medium size meat-only dried shrimp is best. Avoid those tiny paper-thin dried shrimp that still have shell and eyes on them.
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