Khanom chin

Rice soaked until it sours, ground, and extruded straight into boiling water.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 kg long grain rice
• water, for the soak
• 150 g tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. THE RICE IS SOURED BEFORE IT IS GROUND, and that is what makes these different from every other rice noodle. Three days under water at room temperature, changed daily, until it smells distinctly sour. Fresh rice gives a perfectly good noodle that is not this one.
2. Cover the rice by 5 cm and change the water every day. It will smell sharp and faintly cheesy by day three; if it smells putrid or shows colour, start again.
3. Drain and rinse well, then grind with just enough fresh water to a very smooth, thick batter. Any grit left here is grit in the noodle.
4. PRESS THE WATER OUT. Hang the batter in a cloth or weight it in a sieve for 3 to 4 hours until it is a stiff dough that holds a shape. Too wet and it cannot be extruded.
5. Take a quarter of the dough, boil it 10 minutes until cooked through, then knead it back into the raw remainder with the tapioca flour and salt. THAT COOKED PORTION IS THE BINDER -- without it the strands fall apart in the water.
6. Knead hard, 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should fall slowly from a lifted spoon in a thick ribbon.
7. A wide pan of water at a gentle rolling boil, and a bowl of cold water beside it.
8. Press the dough through a noodle press or a piped bag directly over the boiling water, in circles, 30 to 40 cm above it so the strands stretch thin on the way down.
9. They rise in 60 to 90 seconds. Lift them straight into the cold water, then gather each portion into a small nest by hand and drain on a rack.
10. Eat the same day, at room temperature, under any of the curries on this site.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Thailand · All recipes