Suki Haeng or stir fried Thai suki noodles

Suki haeng (สุกี้แห้ง), which translates directly as "dry suki," is a popular Thai street food take on sukiyaki (hot pot), modified into a stir fry. This vegan recipe for suki haeng (sometimes written as suki hang) is visually unremarkable, but it delivers in flavour what it lacks in presentation.

The evolution of Thai suki: from hot pot to stir fry

The funny thing about suki haeng, a not at all soupy noodle dish if you've already forgotten, is it was actually born from a hot pot. To understand how suki lost the pot, let's take a look at its predecessors.

First we've got sukiyaki, shortened to suki in Thai, which refers to the original hot pot. Later, someone had the brilliant idea to turn this hot pot into a single serving noodle soup, and thus suki nam was born (the word "nam" refers to liquid or water). Finally it was modified into a dry dish called suki haeng, capturing the same flavour profile sans brothiness.

What do all three have in common? It's nam jim suki, a garlicky, sweet, sour, and spicy sauce with a kick of sesame. It's a dipping sauce for hot pot and it moonlights as a seasoning for the broth in suki nam as well as a stir fry sauce for suki haeng.

If you're thinking to yourself "but surely the word 'sukiyaki' is Japanese?" you're absolutely right. But despite the Japanese name, the Thai take on sukiyaki likely has roots in Chinese cuisine. From what I can find (in other words, don't quote me on it), the paper trail goes something like this:

The first time (supposedly) a Chinese style hot pot called sukiyaki was served in Thailand was in 1955 at a restaurant in Bangkok. Later, Suki Koka, a Cantonese restaurant in Silom (a now very affluent Bangkok neighbourhood), adapted the dish to Thai tastes. Following its popularity came a domino effect, where more and more restaurants opened and began selling sukiyaki with the Thai palate in mind.

Many believe suki originated as Thailand's spin on the Japanese dish, a logical conclusion given its unmistakably Japanese name. Others argue in favour of Chinese origins, which also holds some weight given how deeply Chinese cuisine has influenced much of the the Thai culinary landscape. As for why it's called sukiyaki, legend traces the name back to a pop song from the 1960s, though the connection may be more apocryphal than factual.

In 1961, Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto released Ue o Muite Arukō ("I Look Up as I Walk"). The song became an unprecedented global hit, so much so that it was the only Asian language song to top the U.S. charts until Gangnam Style in 2012. To this day, it remains one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Fast forward to 1981, when the duo A Taste of Honey covered the song in English under the title "Sukiyaki," despite the fact that neither the original Japanese lyrics nor the English version mention this word. Anecdotal accounts maintain the name of the dish comes from the name of the song, a compelling story but one that raises questions about the timeline. While the original song's global fame in the 1960s aligns with the rise of Thai sukiyaki, the name sukiyaki didn't appear until many years later.

Whatever the truth may be, the origin story is less important than one simple fact: suki, whether as a hot pot, soup, or stir-fry, is a dish Thailand has made distinctively its own.

Where was I? Oh right, a recipe...

Suki haeng recipe notes

This stir fry demands its indespensable signature sauce, nam jim suki, a spicy, sweet and sour blend underpinned by nutty sesame and funky fermented tofu. The sauce is used both in the stir fry and as a condiment alongside the finished dish. My recipe makes plenty of sauce, so you'll get multiple plates of fried noodles out of one batch. Alternatively, you can untraditionally use the remaining sauce as a dip for fried foods because why not?

Once the suki sauce is made, we'll mix it with a few additional ingredients for the stir fry sauce. Then we'll move quickly through the stir fry, starting with a base layer of fried garlic, tofu and vegetables, before adding glass noodles and the liquid seasoning. Once the noodles absorb the sauce the stir fry is ready to eat, served with additional nam jim suki for you to add as you please. Other recommended condiments include prik nam pla, pickled chilli vinegar, and toasted ground chillies.

There are a couple of ingredients that may be unfamiliar. The first is fermented red tofu, which is commonly available in Chinese and Thai grocers. I often use the cheaper Tai Fong red bean curd that comes in a can for recipes like this. The second ingredient you may not know is Thai pickled garlic (gratiem dong). It's a sweet and sour vinegar pickle with whole unpeeled heads of Thai garlic. The skins on Thai garlic are thin, so you can blend the whole thing up when you make the nam jim. You can find jars in Thai supermarkets, but a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese markets also sell it.

Print Recipe

Suki Haeng

This recipe comes in three parts: the suki sauce, the stir fry sauce, and the stir fry itself. The sauce recipe makes about 275 millilitres and it'll get you through making quite a few plates of these noodles. You can also use it as a dipping sauce with hot pot. It'll keep in the fridge for awhile. The stir fry serves one as a main, more as part of a larger spread.

Servings: 1 serving

Ingredients

Nam jim suki

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic ~20 grams
• 1 head pickled garlic ~19 grams (use a Thai brand)
• 3 tablespoons red fermented tofu ~50 grams
• 60 millilitres water ¼ cup
• 3 tablespoons Thai sriracha
• 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar ~21 grams
• 1 ½ tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt ~7 grams
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped red chilli dealer’s choice; optional
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Stir fry sauce (one portion)

• 2 tablespoons sodium free stock or water
• 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons nam jim suki
• 1 tablespoon vegan oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon thin soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon sugar
• â…› teaspoon ground white pepper

Stir fry

• 40 grams dried glass noodles
• 1-3 tablespoons oil
• 1 ½ teaspoon chopped garlic
• 100 grams medium-firm tofu cut into cubes (scant 1 cup)
• 70 grams napa cabbage about 1 packed cup, roughly chopped
• 20-25 grams water spinach about ½ cup, cut into approximate 2 inch pieces
• 25-30 grams celery a handful, cut into approximate 2 inch thin matchsticks
• 1 spring onion roughly chopped

Condiments to serve (all optional)

• prik nam pla
• pickled chilli vinegar
• toasted ground chillies

Instructions

Sauce

• Combine everything but the sesame oil and sesame seeds in a blender and blend to a smooth or semi smooth paste (a few little bits are fine).
• Pour into a container and mix the sesame seeds and oil through.

Stir fry sauce

• Combine everything in a small bowl and give it a mix to combine.

Suki haeng

• Place the bundle of noodles in a bowl and cover with warm water. Leave for at least 10 minutes, until they’re pliable. Drain in a mesh colander and snip a few times with scissors to shorten the strands.
• Heat a wok to the highest possible heat. Add the oil, which should begin to smoke quickly.
• Add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds before adding the tofu. Stir fry until there’s a little colour on the tofu (around 30 seconds).
• Tip the cabbage, water spinach, and celery into the wok and stir fry continuously for around 20-30 seconds.
• Finally, add the noodles and the stir fry sauce. Toss, flip, and stir everything continuously until the noodles have absorbed all of the liquid and the dish is dry. Don’t worry if some bits stick to the side of the wok.
• Turn off the heat and add the spring onions.
• Serve with additional nam jim suki and condiments, if you can be arsed to make them (it's worth it).

Notes

You can buy jars of pickled garlic in Thai grocers
Glass noodles come either in large bags or in small bundles, which are usually 40-50 grams.