I know I speak for many in Thailand when I say “kanom jeen is one of my favourite noodle dishes”.

Kanom jeen is made with rice that has been fermented for three days. The soft spaghetti-like noodles are often served with green curry or nahm yaa, a fish-based sauce and lots of herbs and vegetables to add to the dish and nibble on. In the northern city of Chiang Mai the noodles are central to the popular street food dish, kanom jeen nahm ngiao. They also make an appearance in Lao and Vietnamese dishes such as khao bun, bee bun and naem neuang.

Common though these dishes are, it’s rare to see the noodles being made. Usually noodle shop owners buy daily from a factory or market. When I was in Krabi in southern Thailand recently, I headed to a shop for a bowl of breakfast noodles and I was surprised to see them making their own kanon jeen in the back.

They were coming straight out the press, into a cauldron to cook, then rinsed in cold water, and straight into bowls for waiting customers. What a find. Here they were served with another of my all-time favourite dishes, gaeng dtai pla, a fantastic full flavoured curry made with fish innards, bamboo and egg aubergines.

For more kanom jeen-ness check-out an old post by fellow writers and photographers, Robyn Eckhardt and David Hagerman.