Guaydtiaao Moo Nam Sai (Thai Clear Pork Noodle Soup With Pork Meatballs)

This Thai soup features a savory pork broth with marinated sliced pork, rustic meatballs, garlicky noodles, and an array of final garnish and seasonings.

By
Derek Lucci
Derek Lucci

Derek hosts a Brooklyn supper club featuring Thai food that honors traditional techniques. He is influenced by ongoing dialogue with Thai cooks and the study of old recipe books. He started writing for Serious Eats in 2020.

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Updated October 31, 2024
Overhead view of Guayd tiaao Moo Nam Sai

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Why It Works

  • Irregularly shaped pork balls add visual and textural contrast and appeal.
  • Coating the noodles in fried garlic oil delivers this recipe's essential, complex flavor.
  • Serving one noodle bowl at a time allows each guest to season the soup to their liking.

If you’re walking down a street in Thailand and you see a noodle stand, it will likely be a vendor selling pork noodles in a clear broth, known as guaydtiaao nam moo. This is because Thais adore pork noodle soups, which are as ubiquitous as slices of pizza are in New York. Noodle soups are eaten at all times of the day in Thailand, and, like a slice of pizza, are generally understood to be a standalone meal. One wouldn't typically combine a noodle soup with rice or serve it as part of a multi-dish Thai meal. Once you make this recipe, I'm sure you’ll understand the appeal.

The foundation of this soup is a clear, savory pork stock that serves as a fairly neutral flavor base. Full disclosure: Many cooks throughout Thailand, especially street food vendors, use soup stock cubes or soup packets as a shortcut. But for the sake of experiencing the version of this soup that I think is clearly superior, I’m going to insist that you make the stock before proceeding with this recipe.  

side view of soup

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Guaydtiaao nam moo can include pork in several forms, but this recipe features two of my favorites: marinated sliced pork and pork meatballs. The marinated pork is sliced so thin that it becomes seasoned with fish sauce and white pepper in mere minutes and it cooks in a matter of seconds.

The pork balls aren’t the Italian-wedding soup meatballs that you may be imagining, nor are they the bouncy meatballs commonly found in Thai soups or Chinese hot pot restaurants. These are more rustic and homey; you simply season minced pork with fish sauce, soy sauce, white pepper, and white sugar and pinch pieces of the mixture into boiling water to form irregularly shaped meatballs. I’ve eaten at many noodle shops that serve pork balls this way, and I adore how quick they are to flavor, form, and cook—it’s a very comforting and nostalgic experience.

Technique for Perfect Meatballs and Meat

Success with these meatballs relies on a vigorous mixing method that involves slapping and stirring the meat in a mixing bowl with the seasonings. As the meat is aggressively worked with its seasonings, the salt dissolves meat proteins, and then the proteins bind with each other to form a sticky meat paste. This sticky texture will yield a bouncy and juicy meatball once cooked, as opposed to a crumbly one—very similar to how a good hamburger patty tends to be loose and crumbly thanks to minimal handling and salting, while a sausage is tiger and bouncier thanks to salting and intentional mixing.

Overhead view of desired sticky pork mixture
Close up of desired texture for sticky pork mixture.

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

You'll notice in this recipe that the marinated sliced pork and the seasoned meatballs are cooked in plain boiling water. This may seem strange—won't the water wash the seasoning off? Well, it will, but just a little, frankly just enough to strip away any excess salt. But the overall flavor of the marinades will remain in the cooked meat. You might be tempted to cook the pork in the pork stock instead, but I'd warn you against it, as it can risk over-seasoning the broth, which already gets a healthy dose of fish sauce for flavoring just before serving.

Noodle Notes

When you order this noodle soup, you can pick from different varieties and sizes of egg noodles or rice noodles. While I’m calling for Chinese-style egg noodles (wonton noodles) known as bamee in this recipe, you should feel free to use any type of rice noodle you like. Either way, the noodles are cooked and then coated with garlic oil before transferring them to serving bowls and pouring the hot broth on top. I cannot stress how imperative it is to make the garlic oil, which coats the noodles, significantly enhancing their flavor and altering the sensation of eating them thanks to the slick of oil on each noodle.

Side view of lifting noodles

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Condiments for the Perfect Bowl

As with all Thai noodle soups, guaydtiaao nam moo is not complete without condiments meant to be added to each individual bowl according to the diner's tastes—this particular noodle soup has a restrained flavor that requires adjustments to taste at the table. The common ones for this soup are Thai dried chile powder, chiles in vinegar, fish sauce, white pepper, and sugar. I provided a base seasoning for each bowl just to get them on the right track, but I recommend that you add additional seasonings to your liking for the full experience.

Overhead view of someone eating soup and taking a video

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Recipe Details

Guaydtiaao Moo Nam Sai (Thai Clear Pork Noodle Soup With Meatballs)

Prep 20 mins
Cook 10 mins
Total 30 mins
Serves 4
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

For the Marinated Pork and Meatballs:

  • 8 ounces (227g) boneless pork loin or boneless, skinless pork shoulder, sliced 1/8-inch thick

  •  1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (25ml) fish sauce, divided

  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, divided

  • Pinch of kosher salt

  • 8 ounces (227g) ground pork, preferably 20% fat

  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) Golden Mountain Seasoning Soy Sauce (see notes)

  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

For the Chile Vinegar:

  • 1 cup (240ml) distilled white vinegar

  • Pinch kosher salt

  • 4 red chiles, such as Holland, Fresno, or Cayenne (2 1/2 ounces; 70g), stemmed and thinly sliced crosswise (see notes)

To Prepare and Assemble the Bowls:

  • 3 cups (710ml) Nam Cheua Gradook Moo (Thai pork stock)

  • One 12-ounce (284g) package fresh egg wonton noodles

  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons (40g) garlic oil from Crispy Fried Garlic, plus crispy fried garlic for serving

  • 4 ounces (112g) mung bean sprouts

  • 1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce, plus more for serving

  • 2 scallions, green parts only, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

  • 5 sprigs (10g) cilantro, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 5 sprigs (10g) Chinese celery leaves and stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

  • Ground white pepper, for serving

  • Ground roasted Thai chile flakes, for serving

  • Granulated sugar, for serving 

Directions

  1. For the Marinated Pork and Meatballs: In a mixing bowl, toss sliced pork with 2 teaspoons fish sauce (10ml), 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, and a pinch of salt until evenly coated. Set aside.

    Overhead view of pork marinating in a bowl

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  2. In another mixing bowl, combine the minced pork, Golden Mountain Sauce, remaining 1 tablespoon fish sauce (15ml), remaining 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, and sugar. Using clean hands, vigorously stir ground pork, occasionally picking up the mixture and smacking it against the bowl, until meatball mixture is homogeneous and very sticky (it should begin to be difficult to handle), about 3 minutes.

    Four image collage of mixing pork into a sticky mixture

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  3. In a medium pot of boiling water, cook the marinated sliced pork, using chopsticks to separate the pieces, until just cooked through, 20 to 30 seconds. Using a wire skimmer, transfer sliced pork to a clean bowl and set aside.

    Two image collage of cooking marinaded pork

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  4. Return the water to a boil. Working quickly and using clean hands, pinch off about 1 tablespoon of the meatball mixture and lightly press together to form a roughly shaped ball slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, then drop into the boiling water. Repeat with remaining meatball mixture until all is in the pot. Cook until meatballs float to the top and are fully cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a wire skimmer, transfer pork balls to bowl with the sliced pork; set aside. Reserve pot of boiling water for assembly steps below.

    Two image collage of cooking pork meatballs

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  5. For the Chile Vinegar: In a small saucepan, bring vinegar and salt to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and add chiles. Let steep for at least 30 minutes (vinegar will be best after 1 day).

    Overhead view of chiles in vingear

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  6. To Prepare and Assemble the Bowls: In a medium saucepan, bring pork stock to a boil; cover and keep hot. Return the pot of water used to cook the pork to a boil, then add the egg noodles, and cook, stirring with chopsticks to prevent sticking, according to package directions. Using a spider, transfer noodles to a large bowl. Add garlic oil to noodles and toss to coat. Divide noodles among 4 serving bowls.

    Four image collage of cooking noodles and coating in garlic oil

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  7. Return stock to a simmer, then warm bean sprouts until just heated through about 15 seconds. Using a spider, transfer bean sprouts to serving bowls. Add meatballs and sliced pork to stock and simmer until just heated through, about 15 seconds. Using a spider, divide meatballs and sliced pork among the bowls with the noodles.

    Overhead view of adding meatballs to bowl

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

  8. Add fish sauce to stock, then ladle hot pork broth over the noodle bowls and garnish with scallions, cilantro, Chinese celery, white pepper, and fried garlic. Serve immediately, allowing guests to season their bowls with fish sauce, white pepper, Thai chile flakes, sugar, and chile vinegar to taste.

    Two image collage of adding broth and finished bowl

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Notes

You can substitute rice noodles for the egg noodles. The types that are typically served with this dish are thin rice noodles (known as sen mee), medium rice noodles (sen lek), or wide rice noodles (sen yai). 

A Holland chile and Fresno chile will have a similar mild heat level balanced with a sweet finish, while a fresh Cayenne chile will be spicier. A jalapeño chile may also be substituted in this recipe.

If Golden Mountain Seasoning Soy Sauce is unavailable, Maggi seasoning or Thai light soy sauce are the best substitutions.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The chile vinegar can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 months.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
554Calories
35gFat
19gCarbs
37gProtein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories554
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 35g45%
Saturated Fat 11g53%
Cholesterol 119mg40%
Sodium 2922mg127%
Total Carbohydrate 19g7%
Dietary Fiber 2g5%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 37g
Vitamin C 13mg65%
Calcium 89mg7%
Iron 3mg18%
Potassium 968mg21%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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