Kuaitiao Neua - beef noodle soup

This soup is a popular light meal in Thailand, and often sold by "stop 
me and buy one" hawkers who pedal tricycles around the streets. 

The traditional form is made from beef offal, and contains cow's blood. 

There is nothing odd about this: cow's liver and kidneys are popular in 
Britain, as are the lights (lungs) - at least they were before mad cow 
desease! Blood is a major component in black pudding - a form of sausage 
that is also popular in Britain. 

However the dish can be made quite satisfactorally from any cut of beef, 
and the blood can be omitted, or replaced, as in this version, by red 
wine Bull's Blood is a heavy red wine from central Europe and is 
suitable (if only because of the name?) 

The noodles should be cut into handleable pieces (the Thais don't bother 
and eat soup with chop sticks (not used for any other type of food), but 
as this is an art that takes considerable practice, it is easier to cut 
up the noodles to eat the soup with a spoon. 

So here is a non-vampire version of kuaitiao neua: 

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                    nam kaeng jued (soup stock) 
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ingredients 

10 cups of water 
4 cups of beef bones 
2 onions, with skin, quartered 
2 coriander roots, chopped 
4 bai makrut (kaffir lime leaves), shredded 
1 tablespoon ginger, grated. 

method 

break the bones with a hammer, and roast them for 15 minutes in a hot 
oven. 

Bring the water to the boil, and add the vegetables, and the bones to 
the pot, Boil gently for an hour. 

Boil vigorously to reduce to about half the volume you started with. 

Allow to cool, skim off the fat, filter through a fine seive. 

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                           kuaitiao neua 
                           ============= 

ingredients 

4 cups of stock 
1 cup of red wine (Bull's Blood or similar) 
2 cups of beef (any cut), cubed. 
1 cup of celery (preferably Chinese celery), sliced 
1 cup of mushrooms (any variety) 
half a cup of shallots, sliced 
1 tablespoon prik ki nu daeng (red birdseye chilis), sliced 
2 tablespoons of fish sauce 
2 tablespoons of dark sweet soy sauce 
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce 
1 cup of ribbon noodles, soaked 

Method 

Soak the noodles for 15 minutes, and then chop them into 2-3" long 
pieces for ease of eating. 

Heat the stock to a gentle simmer, and add the wine, and all the other 
ingredients except the beef, mushrooms and noodles. 

When the stock is again boiling add the beef and simmer until the beef 
is tender. Add the mushrooms and noodles, and cook for a further one-two 
minutes 

Garnish with a few coriander leaves and serve with the nam jim described 
below. 

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        nam jim rod dedt (chili vinegar wuth garlic and vinegar) 
        ======================================================== 

This sauce will keep indefinately. 

ingredients 

half cup water 
half cup fish sauce 
3 cups rice vinegar 
3 tablespoons [palm] sugar 
6 cups prik ki nu daeng (red birds eye chilis), sliced 
6 tablespoons garlic, minced 
6 tablespoons ginger, grated 
6 tablespoons phak chi (coriander/cilantro, including roots), chopped 

Method 

Heat the water, fish sauce and vinegar, and dissolve the sugar. 

Allow to cool, and then add all the ingredients to a food processor and 
process to a smooth paste. 

If you prefer a thinner consistency you can increase the amounts of 
water, fish sauce and vinegar.