Northern Thai tomato and pork rice noodles (Khanom chin nam ngiao)

1. Seed the dried chillies and soak in hot water for 15 minutes; roughly chop the shallots, garlic, galangal and lemongrass.

2. Pound or blend the chillies and the other aromatics with the shrimp paste into a thick paste.

3. Heat the oil in a pan, fry the spice paste for 2-3 minutes, then add the minced pork and fry for 5 minutes, breaking it up.

4. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes until they start to collapse, then pour in the stock, season with the fish sauce and palm sugar and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

5. Cook the rice vermicelli according to the packet, rinse and divide between bowls.

6. Pour over the hot tomato and pork broth and serve with bean sprouts, finely shredded Chinese cabbage, coriander and lime wedges.

Tip: A tangy, smoky soup typical of Chiang Mai and the hills; the traditional version also includes blood tofu and dried fermented soybean discs. For a milder version, 3 dried chillies are enough.