Now I no longer eat meat, having switched to a vegetarian diet over a year ago. But, when I did, Thai beef noodle soup, known as Guay Tiew Nuea Nam Sai in Thailand, was one of my favorite dishes. And, if i decided to eat meat again, it would be the dish I ate first.
After all, Thai beef noodle soup has everything — delicious noodles, succulent beef, a comforting broth and is one of the most filling and satisfying Thai dishes you can eat.
So, how do you make Thai beef noodle soup, and is it an easy and fast dish to make?
Yes, it actually is. In fact, if you already have some cooked beef on hand, and you have pre-made the broth, you could be sitting down to your own steaming bowl of Thai beef noodle soup in about 10 minutes from now.
For ingredients, here is what you will need to have on hand:
Ingredients for Thai beef noodle soup (Guay Tiew Nuea Nam Sai)
Broth ingredients
2 lbs of beef bones
3 liters of water
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
3 cilantro roots of 8 stems
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
5 to 6 pieces of white cardamom, or several bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
Beef slices
Rice noodles
Bean sprouts
Chopped green/spring onion and cilantro for the topping
How to make Thai beef noodle soup
- Put the beef bones in a large pot, add the water, and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for around 90 minutes.
- Skim off any foam from the surface of the broth.
- Add the chopped onion, the garlic cloves and the cilantro.
- Add the black pepper, and the cardamom or bay leaves to the mixture.
- Continue to simmer for another hour.
- Remove the bones, the onion and any other pieces still floating in the broth. Remember, this is supposed to be a clear broth.
- If you need a little more broth, once everything has been removed, you can add a little more water to the broth.
- Add the soy sauce, the fish sauce and the sugar and stir.
- Slice and cut your beef into thin, small pieces.
- Soak your noodles in water for about 15 minutes so that they are soft and pliable.
- Blanch the noodles and the bean sprouts in boiling water for 5 seconds using a strainer or sieve (I tend to do mine for about 30 seconds, as I like steaming hot noodles, and they just never seem to be hot enough for me with a quick blanch).
- Put the noodles and bean sprouts in a bowl, add the slices of roast beef and add the broth so that it covers the noodles and beef. Put the onions and cilantro on the top of the dish, and the noodles are ready to eat.
- You can also add crispy fried garlic onto the very top of the dish if you have it, as this is usually how Thai beef noodle soup is served in Thailand.
- And, of course, add some chili oil to the whole mix if you like a spicier dish.
Your Thai beef noodle soup is now ready to eat. Yum!
Now watch Pai of Pailin’s Kitchen making her Thai beef noodle soup in the video below. Pai is a Thai chef currently living in Canada, who makes the most wonderful traditional Thai dishes and explains how to make them so that anyone can do the same.
Then follow her YouTube channel, so you can watch her hundreds of other videos of some of the most amazingly delicious Thai food you will ever eat.
Related: How to make Thai Larb Gai — spicy Thai chicken salad — so easy and yum!
How to make Thai mango coconut jelly — (woon mamuang) — it’s easy and both vegetarian and vegan