Anyone got a Num Tok recipe?

[Cubswin]

My favorite Thai dish and id like to try to make it some time this week. Google seems to be useless as the ingredients are so varied from recipe to recipe.

So, what do i marinate the meat in? What other ingredients do i need besides red onion, spring onion, fresh lime juice, cilantro and chili peppers? Is there fish sauce in the dish? What about chili paste?

I know its a long-shot but i thought id ask....

cubs

[27offsuit]

Wrong forum.

Your post is better suited for the way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way way off topic.


If you can't google it, it doesn't exist....

[KJS]

This is a problem related to the fact that Thai has its own written language and its sounds do not translate easily into Roman characters. So whenever you see anything from Thai in written English, it is really up to the writer to decide on the spelling. Since there is no Roman alphabet equivalents to Thai, there is no standard. One person's Num Tok is another person's Nam Dtok. That makes Googling way harder.

In regards to the recipe you are seeking. The Thai dish is from the Thai words for waterfall. So perhaps you can look for "Water Fall Beef" and get some hits.

The words break down phonetically like this:

Naam (water) is a N as in Nancy, followed by a long version of the English short 'a' as in "open your mouth and say aaaaah". The final consonant sound is M as in Mary. There is also a tone for the vowel. Which is starting high and getting slightly higher. But the tone will not usually be noted in written English. If I were to try to write this word in Roman characters, I would spell it Naam.

Dtok (fall) starts with a consonant for which there is no single English equivalent. It is the combination of our “d” and “t” sounds. Try saying “burnt” but like “burndt” and you will approximate the sound. This is a common sound for beginning words in Thai. The vowel is the equivalent to our long “o” sound, but it is what in Thai is called a short vowel, meaning you say it very quickly. (as opposed to the “aaaaaah” in Naam). The final consonant is the plosive K sound as in “brick”. The tone is a low tone, meaning you would start the vowel at a regular tone and go down a bit when saying it. But again, the tone will not usually be noted in written English. If I were to try to write this word in Roman characters, I would spell it Dtok.

You spelled it Num Tok in your post. I would not think that would get many hits, because the “u” does not really represent the sound of the vowel in the Thai word, in my opinion. But I would not be too surprised if someone wrote it that way on their menu, especially if they did not speak English well.

KJS

Is this what you're talking about?


recipe (http://www.nikibone.com/recipe/thai/nuenamtok.html)


recipe 2 (http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/35/191351.shtml)

[Blarg]

Damn you guys! Now you got me feeling crazy for Thai food!