One in all Northern Thailand’s most iconic dishes is Khao Soi, a wealthy curry noodle soup made with rooster, contemporary egg noodles, coconut milk, and a gentle curry paste. It’s topped with crispy deep-fried noodles for added crunch. To extend the warmth, sprinkle on the fried chili flakes served on the facet. Different conventional accompaniments embrace pickled mustard greens, uncooked crimson onion, and a wedge of lime, together with fish sauce, soy sauce, and typically sugar, so you possibly can alter the flavour to your style. Please be aware that this recipe is for the Chiang Mai model of Khao Soi. I observed that in Chiang Rai it’s sweeter and has a robust aroma of cinnamon and star anise. I just like the Chiang Mai model significantly better.
The primary time I had Khao Soi was at my pal Melvin’s place, the place we made it collectively utilizing the recipe from Sizzling Thai Kitchen, earlier than I had ever been to Thailand. Now that I’m right here for the second time and have tried Khao Soi at a number of spots in Chiang Mai, I assumed it was the proper second to share my model. It contains one key change to Pai Lin’s recipe, plus an optionally available step to spice up the flavour.
Pai Lin makes use of 360 ml (1½ cups) coconut milk and 600 ml (2½ cups) water. I observed that the very best Khao Soi I tasted in Chiang Mai was creamier and extra flavorful, due to the next proportion of coconut milk. So I adjusted my recipe accordingly.
In Thailand, Khao Soi is most frequently served with a bone-in rooster drumstick. This may be difficult to eat, particularly because you’re solely given a spoon and fork (or typically chopsticks), by no means a knife. For simpler consuming and deeper taste, my optionally available step is to take away the meat from the bones, then make a inventory from the bones and pores and skin. Scale back the inventory as wanted and add it to the curry broth. This enriches each the rooster taste and the creaminess of the soup.
Earlier than I’m going to the recipe, let me share an excellent place to have Khao Soi in Chiang Mai that I found: U Khao Soi Chang Phueak (Google Maps). It’s fairly typical for a restaurant to focus on Khao Soi and embrace the dish in its title. Some good locations are beneficial in guidebooks just like the Michelin Information or Lonely Planet, and in consequence you typically have to attend in line to get a desk. I didn’t really feel like ready and selected this spot as a result of it was closest to the health club the place I had simply labored out, simply north of Chiang Mai’s historic middle. It had 4.9 stars on Google Maps, and the Khao Soi was no less than nearly as good as on the beneficial locations—with none ready.
The 2 girls who run the place are very pleasant and communicate sufficient English. The Khao Soi had a wealthy, creamy taste with an ideal steadiness of spicy, candy, and bitter, tender fall-off-the-bone rooster, crispy fried noodles on high, and noodles with simply the precise texture (not too smooth). The worth is identical as elsewhere: THB 60 (lower than 2 euros). I strongly suggest going right here as a substitute of ready in line.
Elements
For 4-8 servings
For the curry paste
- 2 black cardamom
- 1 1/2 Tbsp coriander seeds
- 20 g ginger, thinly sliced
- 5 g contemporary turmeric, thinly sliced
- 60 g sliced shallots
- 20 g delicate dried chilies
- 1 tsp coarse salt
For the curry noodle soup
- 500 ml (2 cups) coconut milk
- 8 rooster drumsticks
- water as wanted
- 3 Tbsp Thai soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp Thai black soy sauce
- 2-3 tsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced palm sugar
- contemporary pasta dough from 3 eggs and 300 grams flour
For the condiments
- lime wedges
- sliced crimson onion
- pickled mustard greens
- chilli flakes and impartial oil to fry them in
- cilantro or inexperienced onion for garnish
Directions
Take away the stems and (a lot of the) seeds from 20 grams of delicate dried chillies, and lower them into items. Place them in a spice grinder…
…and grind right into a superb powder.
Take the seeds out of two pods of black cardamom.
Toast the cardamom seeds and 1 1/2 Tbsp of coriander seeds in a dry frying pan till aromatic.
Toast 20 grams of sliced contemporary ginger, 5 grams of sliced contemporary turmeric, and 60 grams of sliced shallots in a dry frying pan till charred however not burnt on either side.
Place the coriander and cardamom seeds in a spice grinder…
…and grind right into a superb powder.
You should utilize both a small blender or a mortar and pestle to make the chili paste. Mix the bottom chilies, floor cardamom, floor coriander seeds, toasted shallots, turmeric, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of coarse salt within the blender or mortar.
Mix or pound till clean. Due to the small amount, a mortar and pestle could be simpler in case your blender isn’t very small.
Scoop the thick cream from the highest of the coconut milk (don’t shake the can earlier than doing this) and warmth it in a casserole with the curry paste. Stir over medium warmth till it sizzles and the paste turns into aromatic. Choose a casserole during which the drumsticks match snugly in a single layer.
Add the remaining coconut milk and stir till the curry paste has dissolved.
Add the drumsticks together with 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon black soy sauce, 1 tablespoon minced palm sugar, and a couple of teaspoons fish sauce. Pour in simply sufficient water to cowl the drumsticks.
Cowl and produce to a boil, then simmer till the rooster is tender and virtually falling off the bone, about 1 hour.
Within the meantime, place chili flakes in a small pan and add simply sufficient impartial oil to moisten them. Stir over medium warmth till the chili flakes darken and launch a smoky aroma, taking care to not burn them.
Whereas the rooster is cooking, make the contemporary egg noodles. They’re precisely the identical as Italian tagliolini and so you should use my directions for contemporary pasta dough, enable the dough to relaxation for half an hour within the fridge, after which roll out the dough thinly and slice it into fairly slim noodles.
Separate the noodles into particular person parts; utilizing a scale is the best approach. Make two parts per serving: three-quarters for the soup and one-quarter for the crispy fried noodles.
When the rooster is completed, take away it from the broth.
Take the meat off the bones and chop it into bite-sized items; put aside. Break the bones in half to launch the marrow (use a cleaver if wanted, although most rooster bones might be damaged by hand).
Right here comes my optionally available step to boost the flavour through the use of the entire taste from the rooster. Place the bones, pores and skin, and cartilage in a stockpot or strain cooker and barely cowl with water. Cowl the stockpot and produce to a boil, then decrease the warmth and simmer for 1–2 hours. Or shut the strain cooker, convey to strain, and cook dinner for an hour.
Afterwards, pressure the rooster inventory by a sieve.
You might want to cut back this inventory earlier than including it to the broth, relying on how a lot water evaporated throughout cooking. Style the curry broth: if the flavour could be very sturdy, you possibly can add the inventory with out decreasing it first; in any other case, cut back it as wanted by simmering in a large, shallow pan earlier than including it to the curry broth.
Deliver a pot with no less than 1 litre (1 quart) of water to a boil for the noodles.
Deliver the broth to a boil after including the rooster inventory (if utilizing) and preserve the broth heat over very low warmth. Regulate the seasoning by including fish sauce and/or palm sugar. Style for salt first and add fish sauce as wanted, then style for sweetness and add palm sugar as wanted, as a result of fish sauce additionally accommodates some sugar.
Deep fry the noodles in particular person parts simply earlier than serving, as they lose their crispiness rapidly. You’ll want about 250 ml (1 cup) of impartial oil for frying. Warmth the oil to 180 °C (350 °F) and fry the noodles till golden, which can solely take a couple of minute.
Drain the fried noodles on kitchen paper.
Boil the person parts of noodles in quickly boiling water for about 30 seconds to keep away from overcooking.
Take the noodles out of the boiling water with a strainer and place them in a bowl. Add the reserved rooster on high. Repeat with the remaining bowls.
Cowl the noodles and rooster with the curry broth, dividing it evenly among the many bowls.
Prime with crispy fried noodles and serve with the condiments: pickled mustard greens, sliced crimson onions, a lime wedge, and fried chili flakes.
Wine pairing
Though Khao Soi eating places in Thailand don’t serve wine, we loved a Viognier-dominated white Côtes-du-Rhône with Khao Soi within the Netherlands. A Condrieu (100% Viognier from the steep granite banks of the Rhône) could be even higher. This full-bodied wine can deal with the wealthy, creamy taste of the curry noodle soup. When you choose a Viognier with increased acidity, including a bit extra lime juice to your Khao Soi will assist steadiness the pairing.
