Num pachok chon. (Snail noodles soup.)

Khmer Krom Recipes

Succulent apple snail and noodle soup is authentic Khmer Krom recipe from *Karmourn Sor* Rach Gia province where seafood is abundant.
My family tradition breakfast soup during New Year celebration week, my dad like to add pork hock with this snail noodles soup. When I was as a young child, snail meat was too chewy for little kids like my cousins and I, it took us a long time to finished a bowl of snail noodles soup, my great aunt would hollered at us."Hurry up if you want to go to pagoda!" Today, my great aunt still hollering at us, not for slow eating, but for taking too much snail when we eat. :)
This is my easiest way to make delicious Khmer Krom snail noodle soup.
How to make that:
Ingredients :

8 Cups water
1 Package vermicelli noodle
2 lbs Pork hocks, cut chunks(option)
5 Cups water
1 or 2 Packages apple snail meat( sold at most Asian markets)
4 Cloves garlic, minced
¼ Cup minced lemon grass
1 Kaffir lime leaf
1 Tablespoon grated rhizome root
3 Sliced fresh galanga root, or frozen galanga root
½ Teaspoon paprika
2 Tablespoons roasted rice powder
3 Canned chicken broth
1 Tablespoon creamy style pickle fish (pahok)
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
½ Teaspoon salt
¼ Teaspoon black pepper
2 Stalks green onion, chopped
½ lb shredded Asian water spinach *ta kuong* or ½ cabbage, shredded
A handful mint leaves
1 fresh lemon, slices
Handful of chopped fresh chili pepper(option)

Procedures :
Put 8 cups water in a large pot, cook till water bubbling, add noodle to boiling water, cook till noodle tender, pour noodles in to a colander, rinsed under cold water, drained and set a side.
Cleaned snails: Soaked snail in cold water, removed any shell fragments and snail’s stomach, carefully check each snail, snail meat will not taste good if you bite in to sand. Rinses well under cold water and put it in a colander to drained.
Note: (If prefer pork hocks with this soup, put pork hock with 5 cups water, cook till pork hocks tender. Removed cooked pork hocks from boiling water, then using the same water to cook snail meat.)
Put snail meat with 5 cups water in a large pot, cook snail for 10 minutes, removed cook snail from soup pot, put cook snail in a colander, rinsed and drain, and set a side.
Pour chicken broth in a large soup pot, simmering till chicken broth bubbling.
While waiting for chicken broth to boil, using mortal and pestles to manually pounded *boke* garlic with lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf, rhizome root, galanga, paprika and roasted rice powder till real fine, or grinded spices with food processor.
Add prepared spices, boiled apple snails and boiled pork hocks in to the boiling chicken broth, cook in medium low heat till chicken broth boiled again.
Seasoning with pahok, sugar, fish sauce, salt and black pepper, stirs well.
Add green onion and simmering for half hour or more to get great flavor from spices and snail meat.
In a large bowl, mix shredded water spinach stalks or shredded cabbage with mint leaves together, set a side.
TO SERVE:
Put some mix vegetables on the bottom of the bowl, add some noodle on top vegetables and pour soup broth with some snail meat(and pork hock) on top noodle.
Serve immediately with lemon wedge and chopped hot chili pepper.