The name for this dish confuses me a little as it contains the word noodle twice (and one of those in English), but my Thai host stands firm on this, so I must bow to her far superior knowledge.

It is a very simple concoction retailing at under £1. The noodles were of the instant type one can buy easily in an Asian supermarket in the UK, with the tom yum spices added manually to the stock by the customer from the sachets one finds in with said noodles.

Two well-cooked chicken legs wallow in the broth, which is also home to what was simply described as blood. These are the brownish-looking slices at the back of the dish.

My boyfriend had ordered it, so I only tried a little. The chicken and soup were perfectly pleasant, though I’ve never been a big fan of that particular noodle type. As for the blood, it had a soft texture like tofu but not much taste. A small amount of greens fractionally helped towards his five-a-day, but as we’d only recently consumed some home-made mango and pineapple shakes, we felt virtuous enough.

At the same meal I had a very simple plain rice topped with crispy pork and some sweet and gloopy red sauce. As crispy pork (moo krob) is pretty common even in the UK, I haven’t bothered to document it, but the complete dish is called khao moo krob (rice with crispy pork) if you see some pork hanging up in a restaurant in Thailand and want to order it.