Khanom Jeen Nahm Ya
Part 2 - Central and Southern Style Khanom Jeen Nahm Ya
Khanom jeen or fresh rice vermicelli noodles are a common base for curries in Thailand. Each region has their own unique curry that pairs with khanom jeen. If you haven’t read my first post on khanom jeen, you can check it out here.
For this post, I’d like to focus on khanom jeen nahm ya or rice vermicelli with a thick curry made of fish, chicken, or crab. This style of khanom jeen is very common in all regions of Thailand but originated in the central and southern regions where seafood and coconut milk is abundant.
Nahm ya curry made with fish from my 2017 pop up in San Francisco.
Fresh gra chai
Nahm ya’s main flavor comes from a base of red chili paste and plenty of gra chai. Gra chai is a root herb similar to ginger but much thinner and more herbaceous and earthy. Because of its physical appearance it’s also known as wild ginger, fingerroot, finger ginger, lesser ginger, or lesser galangal.
To build the thick and luscious body of the curry, a copious amount of poached and pounded fish, crab, or chicken meat is added to the curry. The key is pounding the meat in a mortar and pestle to keep protein strings intact; using a blender or food processor creates a different texture. Coconut milk is added for creaminess. Depending on the style, nahm ya can have a touch of coconut milk (how we make it at my house) or it can have a lot for a very creamy curry.
Condiments with nahm ya curry
Common condiments for nahm ya curry includes blanched bean sprouts and long beans, dried chili flakes, fresh cucumbers, shredded cabbage, shredded banana blossom, and pickled cabbage. Like other khanom jeen dishes, condiments are flexible and vary from shop to shop and region to region. Thai people love to customize!
Fish-based nahm ya curry is the most common type. For my first pop-up in SF back in 2017, I served fish nahm ya with fish balls that were stuffed with a soft-boiled quail egg (in title picture)
During COVID lockdown in NYC, I made this chicken nahm ya using sous vide chicken breast and a super spicy southern-style chili paste. To tone down the heat (mostly for my husband), I pair it with shredded cabbage, soy-pickled mustard greens, and fresh cucumber.
Crab-based nahm ya is growing in popularity for its spicier curry and sweeter flavor. Here, we had crab curry at ครัวอาจารย์สายหยุด Ajarn Saiyud’s kitchen in Chiang Mai. It comes with plenty of fixings. The crab nahm ya is very creamy, with lots of coconut milk.
Nahm ya can easily be made vegan. Here is the vegan nahm ya by our favorite vegan food store in Chiangmai. The meat is replaced with shredded soy protein and served with lots of pickled mustard greens and bean sprouts. It looks quite ugly but I can assure you it was delicious and didn’t taste different from the non-vegan versions!
