Waen Roi — a Drilled Metal Plate Sewn into Cloth, Squeezing Dough into Khanom Jeen Noodles

"To make khanom jeen noodles, the dough is poured into the cloth; one person holds the waen roi over the middle of a pan of hot water, the other twists the cloth round the dough like a round ball and squeezes the cloth with both hands, and the khanom jeen dough comes out through the drilled holes." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Cut stainless steel sheet into a circle and file the edge smooth. Centre-punch and drill small holes all round the plate, and another ring of small holes near the edge for sewing. Deburr every hole.

Cut unbleached cotton cloth into a square 30-50 centimetres across, with an opening in the middle a little smaller than the plate.

Lay the plate in the middle of the cloth and sew them together through the holes near the edge with nylon line or thread, tight all round.

Real photos of a แว่นโรย (waen roi) from พิพิธภัณฑ์พื้นบ้านวัดสำโรง (Wat Samrong Folk Museum) (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (Phitcha Thongkhlip), CC BY 4.0)

Pour khanom jeen dough into the cloth. One person holds the waen roi over the middle of a pan of boiling water; the other twists the cloth round the dough and squeezes, and the strands pass through the holes into the water. When the noodles are cooked they float to the surface; lift them out with a strainer into cold water, then gather them into bundles and lay them in rows in a basket.

The waen roi (also called i roi) has been made from many materials: moulded clay, bamboo, coconut shell, cloth and metal. The cloth kind is now hardly used, as there are cylindrical waen roi of stainless steel or galvanised sheet with a smaller cylinder that pushes the dough like a piston, and electric khanom jeen machines. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, database of traditional everyday objects, "แว่นโรย", author พิชชา ทองขลิบ (licence CC BY 4.0), from the Wat Samrong Folk Museum, Nakhon Pathom. **Limits.** The source gives no plate or hole size; the sizes in this blueprint are examples. This blueprint gives no recipe for khanom jeen dough.