Khao poon nam jeow pa (fish noodle soup) is a lighter healthier version made without coconut milk. I use homemade paste for the soup but you can certainly take shortcuts and use a pre-made red curry paste in a can. If you want the creamy broth add 33.8 Oz or 1000 ml coconut milk to the broth.
My family is from northern Laos so, we mostly use fermented soybean paste and shrimp paste instead of fermented fish sauce in our cooking.

Recipe serves 6-8

For the broth:
3 Whole catfish or 2 lbs white meat fish fillets 907g
13 Cups water 3.8 liters
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2-2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp msg or 3 Tbsp chicken bouillon

For the homemade paste:
2 Stalks lemon grass-sliced
1/3 Cup galangal-sliced
1-2 Tbsp kaffir lime leaves-sliced
8-10 cloves garlic
1 Onion-chopped
2 Tbsp Paprika powder
2 Tbsp fermented soybean paste/toua nowh or fermented fish sauce/padaek
Chilies to taste

For store-bought paste:
1 Can 4 oz red curry paste 114g
2-3 Tbsp fermented fish sauce(padaek)
6 Cloves garlic-minced
1 Tbsp galangal-sliced
6 Kaffir lime leaves
Galangal and lime leaves are optional here but if you have it go ahead and put it in. It gives good aromatic and taste more authentic.

For serving you will need cooked rice vermicelli and mix vegetables.

Salad mix for khao poon:
shredded cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, mints, chopped cilantro and green onions.
Make it as much as you like. We don’t usually have measures for this. Lol