This dish is definitely on the elaborate side, but always sure to impress. Prepared with a fresh spice paste, the broth alone is an explosion of flavor. A sprinkle of deep-fried noodles on top provides a nice crunchy contrast.
I would murder for another bowl of this stuff.
A Patron
Hailing from northern Thailand, specifically Chiang Mai, this dish is infused with as many cultural influences (from China, Laos, Myanmar) as it is with flavors.
Curry noodles or noodle curry?
Is it a curry? Yes, but not only! The paste for Khao Sai has a lot in common with the base recipe for other Thai curry pastes, minus the lemongrass and kaffir limes, and using ginger instead of galangal. By the way, this recipe yields a large amount of curry paste, and you may not need to use all of it. Add it to taste after topping up with water to cover the chicken.
The “twist” lies in the use of noodles. Most recipes recommend Chinese egg noodles, specifically wonton noodles, that are sold fresh and refrigerated. Since those can be hard to come by, I’ve made do with dried as well as frozen Chinese wheat noodles in the past a few times. Some recipes also list a different, second type for the deep-fried noodle topping, but if your noodles are thin, you can use the same type for deep-frying. You can also deep-fry some chilies as an additional topping.
Crushing and burning
Roasting works best on an open-flame gas stove or with a handheld blowtorch, but your oven’s grill function will also do.
If you have one of those large Thai mortars, it will definitely come in handy when crushing the spices to a powder and grinding down the chilies with the salt. For the paste, I recommend using a food processor to get it really smooth. Using a mortar for the paste as well will release more flavors if you can spare the extra time, but since this recipe is already a lot of work…
Sprinkle, sprinkle
Thai dishes are often served along with ingredients on the side for customization at the table. Besides the lime wedges and shallots, you can also serve the coriander and chilies on the side as both aren’t enjoyed by everyone. Some extra green onions and crunchy noodles can’t hurt either.
Chili flakes are another staple to serve alongside Thai dishes. You can also add some to taste already to the simmering broth. In either case, I recommend pan-frying them a little first to make them more fragrant.
And finally…
… some more notes on the ingredients as always:
- As for the chicken, you can use whole drumsticks or thighs, and remove the skin and/or bone if you want. The meat can be sliced to small pieces as well for ease of eating, but I prefer leaving it intact for the presentation.
- The coconut milk should not contain an emulsifier since you want the liquid and chunky components to be separated. Keeping the coconut milk in the fridge until right before you need it will also achieve this.
Chicken Khao Soi
Equipment
- 1 food processor or mortal & pestle ideally both
- gas stove / blowtorch optional
Ingredients
For the paste
- 2 dried red chili peppers optional: 4 more for deep-frying
- 1 pods black cardamom or 2-3 green pods
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 4 shallots
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 pieces ginger thumb-sized
- 4-8 cilantro roots included with the fresh bunch
- 1 pinch salt ideally coarse
- 1 tsp ground turmeric aka curcuma
For the curry
- 1 can coconut milk without emulsifier; 400 ml
- 8 chicken thighs incl. bones & skin
- 100 ml chicken stock
- 2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 500 ml vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 1 pack wonton noodles
- some cooking oil
Toppings
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 lime
- 2 spring onions
- 1 shallot
Instructions
Prepare ingredients
- Put the coconut milk in the fridge so the liquid and chunky parts separate.
- Gather all the other ingredients.
- Wash the green onions and cut into small rolls.
- Skin all the shallot(s). Cut the one(s) reserved for the topping into slices.
- Wash the coriander, and shake off the water. Cut off the roots and set aside. Pluck the leaves.
- Cut the lime into quarters.
- Put the cut shallots, lime(s), and coriander leaves aside. They will be added as toppings at the end.
- Pour the deep-frying oil into a small saucepan and put to low heat so it's quickly ready for deep-frying later.
- Pre-heat the oven to about 70°C for keeping the noodle bowls warm later.
Prepare chilies & seeds for paste
- Cut open the dried chili peppers and remove seeds. Soak in warm water for 15 minutes.
- Open up cardamom capsule(s) with a large knife and take out the small seeds.
- Roast the small cardamom seeds with the coriander seeds in a small pan until fragrant.
- Take them out of the pan. Let cool and crush to a fine powder in a mortar (if not available, blend in a food processor).
- Mix in the turmeric powder. Set aside.
Char toppings for paste
- Take the chilies out of the water. Squeeze dry and stick on a skewer.
- Grill over an open flame until lightly charred. (If not available, charring in an oil-free pan is also easy.)
- Do the same with the shallots (that aren't reserved for the topping).
- Peel the garlic and ginger and char them as well.
- Let everything cool, then brush under running water to remove the black bits.
Make the paste
- Clean and roughly chop the coriander roots.
- Crush the chilies in a mortar with the coarse salt.
- Add the whole shallots, garlic, ginger, and coriander roots to a food processor (or large mortar) and blend/pound to a fine paste.
- Finally, stir in the dry spice mix from earlier (chilies, cardamom, turmeric).
Make the curry
- Scoop out the hard, white coconut cream from the can using a spoon. Slowly heat up in a large sauce pan or wok.
- As soon as the clear coconut oil starts to separate itself, add 3 to 4 tbsp of the curry paste.
- Fry at low heat until fragrant.
- Add the chicken legs and lightly brown from all sides. Be sure to keep the heat low, and handle the chicken actively, as things get burned easily at this stage!
- Stir the mixed chicken stock, palm sugar, fish sauce, and 2 tbsp of (dark) soy sauce into the pan.
- Add the remaining coconut milk. Top up with water until everything the chicken legs are just about covered.
- There should be plenty of curry paste left. Stir in more of it to taste from here on out.
- Leave to simmer at low heat for 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is done. (Now is a good time to take care of the remaining steps as you wait for the chicken.)
- Take the pot off the stove and let it simmer for 30 minutes with the lid closed.
Prepare noodles
- Cook the noodles according to package instructions, or ideally slightly undercook them. They will continue to soften in the hot broth.
- Meanwhile, turn the heat up to medium on the deep-frying oil. It should reach around 175°C for deep-frying.
- Drain the noodles. If they bunch up easily, stir in a little bit of (cold) oil.
- Take a handful (~50g) of the noodles away for deep-frying. Distribute the rest to serving bowls and keep them warm in the pre-heated oven.
- Cut the noodles for deep-frying to pieces measuring 5-10cm each.
- Deep-fry in hot oil in saucepan until crispy.
- Optional: Deep-fry one more dried chili per bowl for garnish.
Assemble the dish
- Take the bowls out of the oven and pour the sauce over them.
- Add two chicken thighs to each bowl.
- Top with the deep-fried noodles, cut green onions, coriander leaves and deep-fried chilies.
- Serve alongside the prepared sliced shallot(s) and lime(s).
