Recipe: Khao Soi (thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup)

A soup-like dish made with a mix of deep-fried crispy noodles and boiled egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, shallots, lime, ground chillies fried in oil, and meat in a curry-like sauce containing coconut milk.

Pailin's Kitchen

Kao soi curry paste

1. Soak 10 large dry red chillies deseeded in water for 15 minutes.

2. Char 10 pieces of ginger peeled and sliced into rounds, 1/2 cup chopped shallots and 8 pieces of turmeric peeled and sliced into rounds slightly by searing, broiling or grilling. set aside.

3. Grind the toasted black cardamom seeds and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle, remove and set aside.

4. Drain the dried chilies well and pound together with the 1 tsp sea salt in the mortar and pestle. add the ginger, shallots, and turmeric along with the toasted cardamom and corainder seeds. pound to a fine paste.

5. Kao soi curry paste is ready!

Make the soup:

6. In a pot, add a little vegetable oil. saute the kao soi curry paste over medium to high heat for about 30 seconds.

7. Add 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the coconut milk dries up and the paste becomes thick. for certain types of coconut milk, the coconut oil should also start to separate from the paste at this point.

8. Add 1 pound or 450 gms chicken and toss to coat in the curry paste. add the remaining 1/2 cup coconut milk, 3 cups water, and 2.5 tbsp soy sauce, 2.5 tsp sugar.

9. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and let the chicken braise for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is fork tender.

10. Once the chicken is done, taste and adjust seasoning, adding more water if necessary.

To fry chilli flakes:

11. Saute the chilli flakes over medium low heat in some vegetable oil, there should be plenty of oil for the chillies to cook in, so if it looks dry, add more oil until it looks thoroughly wet. keep stirring until you can smell smokiness from the chillies and the chillies start to darken. when finished, transfer into a small bowl immediately.

Make crispy noodles:

12. You can use the flat noodles for this if there is extra, otherwise thin egg noodles look best when fried.

13. Cut the noodles a few times so they are not too long.

14. Heat about 1" of oil in a wide pot or wok. when the oil is hot, add just a small amount of the noodles as they will expand significantly. press the noodles down slightly as they fry.

15. Once the bubbling starts to subside, flip the noodles over. once the bubbling stops, remove the noodles immediately and let drain on paper towel.

When ready to serve:

16. Blanch the noodles in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the noodles are cooked through. drain well and transfer into a bowl.

17.Pour the soup over the noodles. serve with a slice of lime, shallots, pickled mustard greens, and fried chillie flakes.

18. You can also sprinkle some chopped cilantro and/or green onions for extra garnish.