Khanom Jeen or Khanom Jeen–Namya is a very delicious and healthy Thai curry noodle dish. Khanom Jeen is made with soft, thin noodles made from fermented rice flour. Nam-ya is the delicious fish or chicken curry made with coconut milk and lots of herbs and spices such as red chili, lemon grass, galangal, turmeric, garlic and shallots. This kind of dish is usually eaten with lots of vegetables such as long beans, cucumber, Thai basil, cabbage and mung bean sprouts. It is a healthy dish. Khanom Jeen is a festival food too. It is popular for a merit-making ceremonies, weddings and thamboon baan or house blessings. Locals also serve it to guests and monks who perform blessings. They believe that the length of this noodle means happiness and love will be go on forever. In contrast, many people don’t serve this dish at funerals because they believe that there will be another in the village who will die because of the length of noodle.
In Ban Lueam district, there are many vendors who always cook and sell this dish. Some villages have 1-3 Khanom Jeen vendors. Every morning, the vendors will wake up early at about 2 a.m. to start preparing the Khanom Jeen. They finish their work before 6 a.m. The amount of Khanom Jeen prepared for sale each day depends on the orders received. During festivals or long holidays there will be more orders than is usual because people will travel back to their home towns for family re-unions. Khanom Jeen seems to be the main food that their families will have prepared for them. Many people like Khanom Jeen because of its taste and price. It will be a part of Ban Lueam society for a long time.