🇹🇭 Thailand · nationwide, a breakfast and late-night dish
Khao tomThai rice soup
A Thai rice soup of cooked jasmine rice whose grains stay separate in a clear pork or chicken broth, with minced pork or pork balls, fried garlic, white pepper and herbs, and table seasonings of chilies in vinegar and soy.
Origin and history
Khao tom, literally 'boiled rice', is a traditional Thai soup of soft jasmine rice in a light broth, eaten as a breakfast and as comfort food when someone is unwell, according to the recipes consulted. They give no documented origin; Thai recipes differ by protein, with minced pork the usual one and chicken, fish and prawns also common.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 35 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 2 liters2 quarts water or light pork or chicken stock
- 4 cloves garlic, for the pork and the broth
- 3 coriander roots, washed
- 1 tsp ground white pepper, plus more to serve
- 200 g7 oz minced pork, not too lean
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, divided
- 1 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
- 3 cups (about 450 g)3 cups cooked jasmine rice, leftover rice is ideal
- 1/2 cup Chinese celery or celery, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fried garlic, with its oil, if you like
- 2 stalks spring onion, sliced
- 1 small bunch coriander, chopped
- fresh chilies in vinegar, soy sauce and extra white pepper, to serve at the table
Method
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1. Pound the garlic and the coriander roots to a rough paste. Mix about half with the minced pork, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and the white pepper, and shape the pork into small balls the size of a walnut.
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2. Bring the water or stock to a boil with the remaining garlic paste, the remaining soy sauce and a little fish sauce.
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3. Drop in the pork balls one at a time, so they do not clump. Simmer for 5 minutes, until they float and are cooked through.
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4. Add the cooked rice and the celery. Keep the heat low so the water barely boils, and stir gently: hard boiling breaks the grains. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the rice is hot and soft but the grains are still separate.
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5. Taste and season with fish sauce and white pepper.
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6. Ladle into bowls and top with fried garlic, spring onion and coriander. Serve with the chilies in vinegar, soy sauce and white pepper on the table.
Notes
- Khao tom (boiled rice) is a traditional Thai breakfast soup of soft jasmine rice in a light, savoury broth. Cook it over low heat and stir gently so the grains stay whole.
- Recipes differ on the rice: Thai recipes here start from cooked rice (leftover is ideal), while one English-language recipe simmers raw jasmine rice in the broth for about 10 minutes with the pork balls added at the end.
- One traditional-style Thai recipe fries crisp pork belly first and stir-fries the minced pork in the rendered fat, then adds rice and water; another browns minced pork with dried shrimp. Chicken, fish or prawns replace the pork in other versions.
- Another recipe flavours the broth with lemongrass, ginger, lime juice and fish sauce, and tops it with fried shallots.
- Toppings vary: a soft-boiled egg, fried shallots, shiitake mushrooms or a little young ginger are common. Chilies in vinegar, soy sauce and white pepper go on the table.
- Make ahead: keep the rice and broth separate if you want the grains to stay firm; the soup keeps for 3 days in the fridge and thickens as the rice swells.
Adapted from Thairath, สูตรข้าวต้มหมูสับ (traditional khao tom moo sap) and Hungry in Thailand, Khao Tom (Thai Rice Soup with Pork Meatballs).
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.