Easy (As) Chiang Mai Noodle Soup or Khao Soi (ข้าวซอยอย่างง่าย)

Chiang Mai Noodle Soup or Khao Soi is another street food well known in Thailand especially in the northern part of the country - Chiang Mai in particular. The meat in this dish is mainly beef and chicken as it was created by Islamic Chinese residing in the northern provinces of Thailand. The authentic and original recipe might be a lot more complicated than mine but I have an excuse of being in this foreign land where all the ingredients are not easy to find (or cannot be found due to the bio-security procedures). Actually, I learned to use these easy-to-find ingredients for this dish from one of the English language magazines (funny that) I read somewhere ages ago back when I just moved to New Zealand. 

For 2 people you will need:

Noodles

2 packets of instant noodles (I use Yum Yum), cooked to the instruction without adding flavouring powder and oil, rinsed in cold water, drained and set aside

Soup

400-500 grams of chicken meat, cubed

1 tablespoon Thai Red Curry paste

1 teaspoon Indian Curry Powder

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 can (425 grams) Coconut Cream, reserve 2-3 tablespoon for garnish

1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce

1 cup chicken stock

About a cup of water

¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)

4 pieces Star Anise

½ Red onion, cut into 4 wedges with 2 of them cubed

1 small bunch coriander (best with root intact), a few leaves few leaves torn for garnish and the rest bruised with the flat of big knife

Soy sauce and salt to taste

1 lime or lemon, cut into wedges

1 Spring Onion, chopped

Topping

Loads of Asian Crispy Noodles

In the thick bottom saucepan or cast iron casserole, fry red curry paste with 4-5 tablespoons of coconut cream over medium heat. Add curry powder and turmeric, cook further until fragrance and the oil starts to surface – you will need to add a little more coconut cream along the way. Add chicken meat and fry to seal then add stock, the rest of coconut cream, sweet soy sauce, 2 red onion wedges, chilli flakes, coriander and star anise. Simmer for half an hour or so until the chicken is tender. Add a little water and taste – add soy sauce and salt if needed.

Place cooked noodles in a bowl and ladle the soup over them. Garnish with crispy noodles, coconut cream, spring onion and coriander leaves. Serve with cubed red onion and lime wedges on the side. I normally have a bowl of extra crispy noodles on the table as well – as they go so swimmingly with the soup. If you are brave, you can also add chilli oil– yum!