Clear Soup with Tofu and Pork (Gaeng Jued Tao Hu Moo Sap)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium stockpot or Dutch oven
• •Ladle
• •Small pan for frying garlic

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the pork

   In a bowl, combine the minced pork with half the minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper. Mix with your hands until the seasoning is evenly distributed and the pork feels slightly sticky. That tackiness means the proteins are binding. Don't form meatballs yet. You'll pinch small pieces directly into the hot broth. That roughness is the point: irregular shapes catch broth and give you textural interest that neat little spheres never will.

   Some cooks add a teaspoon of minced cilantro root (rak phak chi) to the pork mixture. If you can find it, do it. Cilantro root is one of the nine essential ingredients Ajarn identifies. It adds an earthy depth that the stems and leaves can't replicate.
2. 2

   Build the broth

   Bring the stock and water to a gentle boil in a medium pot. Not a rolling boil. Gaeng jued is a clear soup. If you boil it aggressively, the broth goes cloudy and you lose that clean, transparent quality that defines the dish. A lazy simmer with small bubbles breaking the surface. That's your target.

3. 3

   Cook the pork

   Pinch off small pieces of seasoned pork, roughly the size of a large marble, and drop them one by one into the simmering broth. Don't stir immediately. Let them set for about a minute. The surface of each piece needs time to firm up so it doesn't dissolve into the liquid. After a minute, give a gentle stir to release any pieces stuck to the bottom. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the pork is cooked through and floating. Skim any foam that rises. That foam is coagulated protein. It's not harmful, but it muddies your broth.

4. 4

   Add tofu and cabbage

   Slide the tofu cubes in gently. Don't dump them. Soft tofu breaks if you look at it wrong. Lower each piece in with a spoon and let it settle. Add the napa cabbage pieces. The white stalky parts go in first because they take a minute longer than the leafy tops. Cook for 2 minutes until the cabbage softens but still has some bite. Limp, translucent cabbage means you've gone too far.

   Use soft tofu (tao hu on), not firm, not silken. Soft tofu holds its shape in the broth but is tender enough to break apart when you eat it with a spoon. Firm tofu has no place in gaeng jued. It fights the soup instead of becoming part of it.
5. 5

   Add glass noodles

   Drop the soaked glass noodles into the pot. They cook in about a minute. Watch them go from opaque white to glassy and translucent. The second they're clear, they're done. Overcook them and they turn to mush, absorb all the broth, and stick together in a gummy mass. One minute. Set a timer if you need to.

6. 6

   Season and serve

   Add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and the palm sugar. Stir gently. Taste. The broth should be clean, savoury, slightly sweet, with the warmth of white pepper humming underneath. Not salty. Not bland. Somewhere in between where you can taste the stock itself. Add the spring onions and remaining minced garlic, stir once, and take it off the heat. Ladle into bowls while it's hot. Top each bowl with a spoonful of fried garlic and a drizzle of the golden garlic oil. Scatter cilantro over the top. The fried garlic hits the hot broth and fills the room with that smell. You know the one. Every Thai kitchen at dinnertime.

   The krueng prung (condiment tray) is essential with gaeng jued. Set out fish sauce, white pepper, sliced bird's eye chilies in vinegar (prik nam som), and sugar. Each person adjusts at the table. This is the Thai system at work: the cook provides balance, the eater makes it theirs.

Chef Tips

• •The broth is everything in gaeng jued. If you don't have homemade pork stock, simmer pork bones with a few cilantro roots and white peppercorns for an hour. Strain it. That's your foundation. Boxed broth will work in a pinch, but it'll taste like boxed broth. There's nowhere to hide in a clear soup.
• •Fried garlic (kratiem jiaw) is the finishing move. Slice garlic thin, fry it slowly in oil until it's golden and crispy, then drain it on paper. Save the oil. Both the garlic and the oil go on top of the soup at the table. If you rush the frying and the garlic burns, start over. Burnt garlic is bitter, and bitterness ruins gaeng jued's gentle balance.
• •White pepper (prik thai khao) is not black pepper. It's hotter, sharper, and more aromatic. It's the heat source in gaeng jued, doing the job that chilies do in every other Thai dish. A little goes further than you'd expect. Add it to the broth and again at the table. Two layers of warmth.
• •Fish sauce is the only salt. Don't add table salt. Don't add soy sauce. Fish sauce provides salinity plus the umami depth of fermented protein. That's the Thai principle. Soy sauce is from the Chinese tradition, and even though gaeng jued has Chinese roots, it crossed over. It follows Thai rules now.

Advance Preparation

• •Pork stock can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for a month. Good stock is the single biggest upgrade you can make to this dish.
• •Fried garlic (kratiem jiaw) keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Make a big batch. You'll use it on everything: rice, noodles, soups, stir-fries. The garlic oil keeps just as long.
• •Glass noodles can be soaked in advance and kept drained in the fridge for a few hours. The seasoned pork mixture can be prepared and refrigerated for up to a day. But assemble and cook the soup fresh. Reheated gaeng jued loses its clarity and the noodles absorb all the broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)