I don’t even know what part of the taste to taste first.

A Patron

Copy and paste

Listen, I know what you’re thinking. It looks like a lot of steps, but the homemade paste is by far the largest chunk of work. If you make a bunch of it in advance and freeze it in portions, all you need to do for your dinner is fry it in some oil, add the coconut milk, and throw in the chopped meat and veggies. The additional toppings are nice, but optional if you want to keep it simple. When preparing a larger batch of paste, here’s a rule of thumb: use 1-2 tbsp of curry paste in 200-300 ml of coconut milk per serving.

One important note on the paste: Use the big Thai dried chilies, not small ones! If you have only tiny chilies, use around 16, and 10-12 if you have mid-sized ones. Be aware that smaller chilies are often spicier. If you want to cut down on spiciness regardless of chili size, discard the seeds when chopping them. And while we’re on the topic of paste ingredients, I know that shrimp paste isn’t everyone’s thing. It adds a subtle note to the curry that I enjoy, but don’t need. Leave it out if you prefer, and of course if you want to turn the paste vegetarian.

Swap the veggies

I like to add one type of meat or seafood, and one vegetable when making a Thai curry. For the vegetable, I went for bamboo shoots here because they’re classic and low-maintenance, and stay firm and crunchy even when simmering for a long period. If you’re looking for alternatives, besides zucchini or butternut squash, you could also go for 200g of bell peppers, oyster mushrooms, or Thai eggplants (cut into eights). Large Western eggplants might also work, but I’ve never tried.

Swap the protein

I chose pork because I really like how it jives with red curry in particular, but beef and chicken are equally classic choices. When it comes to the specific pork cut, I’ve seen variations from very lean (tenderloin) to very fatty (pork belly). I’m not sure what the most traditional choice is, but my recommendation is, as always, to pick whatever your taste buds dictate. I prefer a lean cut because I dislike chewing on fatty meat that hasn’t simmered for a long enough time to basically melt (like Kakuni).

You can easily turn this dish vegetarian by choosing tofu (and of course leaving out the shrimp paste). If you do, I recommend you get the firm type, dice and pan-fry it, and don’t add it to the curry while simmering. Instead, place it on top at the end, otherwise it will get soggy and might fall apart.

Finally, I also use shrimp quite frequently because I have a good amount of raw frozen shrimp in the freezer at all times. With that and pre-made frozen paste ready to go, you only need to buy very few ingredients to throw an amazing curry together in a short amount of time.

Top it off

You often see fresh herbs on top, but I don’t like buying an entire bunch of Thai basil just to use two leaves for garnish. If you happen to grow your own, it’s the perfect choice, though.

Fried Thai garlic is another amazing topping, but I cannot find this stuff anywhere near me. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on it, fry it in oil (don’t peel it!) and shred it to small sprinkles.

By contrast, frozen kaffir lime leaves are widely available, it seems. If using, make the strips or shreds as small as you humanly can, otherwise they are tough to eat. And finally, I highly recommend the crushed cashews not only for their taste, but also the contrast in texture.

Recipe credit

This recipe is largely based on one by Master Chef Angkrit, whose Thai curries cooking class I attended in 2024. My partner and I were lucky enough to be the only ones in attendance that day. He later sent a sheet with countless curry paste variations, one of which I based this recipe on. I’ve since practiced it many times, made changes to the ingredients and steps (sometimes very few, sometimes many), and written up as much additional advice as I could based on my own experience. In addition, I learned about Thai curries at the House Of Taste and Siamese Cookery House cooking classes. I recommend all three in case you’re ever in Bangkok.

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Thai Red Curry

Thanks to the homemade paste, this curry always turns out incredibly rich and creamy, with variable spiciness.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 3 people

Equipment

• 1 pestle and mortar or spice grinder
• 1 stand mixer or food processor

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

For the paste (mandatory)

• 6-10 dried chilies large Thai ones!
• 2-3 stalks lemon grass using only the white part
• 0.25 red onion small
• 5 garlic cloves mid-sized
• 0.5 tbsp galangal peeled
• 0.5 tsp white peppercorns
• 0.25 tsp coriander seeds
• 0.125 tsp cumin seeds

For the paste (optional)

• 0.5 tbsp kaffir lime zest or leaves
• 0.5 tbsp shrimp paste

For the curry

• 800 ml coconut milk
• 400 g pork tenderloin
• 200 g bamboo shoots or squash (zucchini/butternut)
• 1 tbsp palm or white sugar or to taste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or to taste
• 0.5 tsp table salt
• 1.5 tbsp neutral oil

For garnish (optional)

• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1-2 fresh red chilies small
• 20 g cashews

Side (optional)

• 200 g Jasmine rice dry weight

Instructions

Make the paste

• Boil some water and pour it over the dried chilies in a bowl. Soak for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, crush the white pepper, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds using a pestle and mortar. Briefly toast them in a small, dry pan over medium heat and set aside.
• Cut off the tough end of the lemongrass stems, then thinly slice the white part. You don't need the green part for this recipe.
• Peel and thinly slice the red onion.
• Peel the garlic cloves.
• Peel the galangal, then cut into three slices.
• If using, remove the zest from the kaffir limes. If using kaffir lime leaves instead, remove the thick stem from the middle, then slice up the halved leaves.
• Take the chilies out of the water and pat dry. Cut off the top, then roughly chop them up. If you want to cut down on the heat, discard the seeds.
• Put all the prepared ingredients (plus the shrimp paste if using) into a food processor and blend into a paste. Add up to 2 tbsp of liquid coconut milk or water to make it smoother if desired.
• If you want to reserve any paste for a later date, freeze it at this point.

Prep the ingredients & toppings

• If your bamboo shoots aren't already thin slices, cut them down to bite size. If using squash, cut into cubes.
• Cut the pork into thin slices about 1-2 cm wide.
• If desired, mix it with 0.5 tsp of salt and let it sit for a few minutes.
• If using for garnish, remove the stem from the kaffir lime leaves, then slice or shred very thinly.
• Wash the red chilies, remove the stem, and cut them into slices.
• If using, roughly crush the cashews in your mortar. If they are raw, briefly toast the crushed cashews in a dry pan over high heat to brown.
• Now is a good time to wash the rice and pop it into your rice cooker in salted water. The timing will line up unless you decide to let the curry simmer for longer to deepen the flavor.

Make the curry

• Pour 1 tbsp of neutral oil into a high-walled pan or wok over medium high heat.
• After a minute or two, add your curry paste and fry for at least two minutes until fragrant.
• Optional: Reserve 1-2 tbsp of coconut cream for garnish. If thick cream gathered at the top, take 0.5 tbsp of it and 1 tbsp of the liquid milk underneath. Mix well in a small bowl and set aside.
• Add the (remaining) coconut milk to the pan or wok and stir until the paste is fully integrated.
• Turn the heat down to medium or medium low to get a gentle simmer.

  At this stage, I like to keep the curry simmering with the lid on for around 40 minutes to deepen the flavor. Skip if you don't have the time.
• Add the sugar and fish sauce and stir until the sugar is dissolved. If using palm sugar, crush it in the mortar first.
• Turn the heat up to medium high. Add the bamboo shoots and meat, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Serve

• Distribute curry to bowls or deep plates.
• If you set aside some coconut cream with water, splash it on for decoration.
• Garnish with chopped chilies, shredded/sliced kaffir lime leaves, and crushed cashews.
• Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Just as sticky and sweet as the countertops in this place, but doesn’t make you sick.

The Chef

This is one of my favorite desserts in the world, and the very first one on this blog for that very reason. It’s always sure to impress as long as you remember that the rice needs to soak overnight.

Man, go buy the good stuff

Mangoes vary a lot across the world. In the West, they are usually larger and much less flavorful than the ones found in Southeast Asia. If you have the opportunity to get smaller, sweeter ones, you absolutely should even if they are more expensive. In Europe, you can sometimes get Pakistani mangoes (as seen in the pictures), which are excellent. This recipe assumes you are using small mangoes; using larger ones, half a mango is usually enough per person.

Slice her up

To get the most mango out of your mango, you need to cut out the pit. You can tell where it is by the “seam” that runs alongside the… long side. Place the mango in your hand with the stem facing towards you, and the pit horizontally aligned with the floor. Now using a sharp knife, slice off the top part (away from you!) by letting the blade slide along the top of the pit. It will yield a somewhat curved piece of meat. Set it aside, flip the mango over, and repeat the process. Slice off the other half of mango meat, and you should be left with a very slim disk containing just the pit and some pulp on the sides.

Usually, the Mango Sticky Rice is served without the mango’s skin. This recipe also calls for peeling it, which you should do before cutting out the pit. However, there is also a nice way to present and eat it with the skin still on: Cut the pit out as described above, then lie the mango halves down with the peel facing downwards, and the pulp surface facing towards you. Now, make straight cuts along the mango from left to right and then from top to bottom, creating a mesh of ~1–2 cm thick cubes still attached to the skin. Be careful to cut all the way down to the skin, but do not pierce through it. At the end, make the cubes protrude outward by bending the skin back. It will stay that way on its own, and should look a bit like a mango hedgehog with square spikes.

As for the peeled variation, there are many different ways to cut it for the final presentation. I stuck with simple slices, but I don’t want to keep you from living your dreams of elaborate mango sculptures. I made an intricate mango rose once, but I can assure you it tasted the same.

All ingredients unprocessed, processed & after steaming rice and making the sauce

Saucy disagreement

With half a teaspoon of salt as stated in the recipe, the sauce comes out noticeably sweet and salty. If you prefer the salt to merely provide a subtle contrast, go for a quarter teaspoon instead. You can also make it saltier to contrast the mango more; I’ve had a variation in Bangkok that was much more salty than sweet, but I didn’t like it much.

Steamy action

I used a Thai sticky rice steamer basket, but you can absolutely use any other steamer that is compatible with rice, such as the more widespread cylindrical bamboo steamer baskets. To prevent your rice from falling through the holes or sticking to the bamboo, you need to add a layer with a very fine mesh. Personally, I use a cotton cloth (or cheesecloth) as pictured.

Don’t get a rice out of me

Use run-of-the-mill granulated white sugar to preserve the color of the rice. And speaking of rice, it is imperative that you get glutinous rice. It will say so on the package, and you can easily recognize it from its milky white color. If you use any other rice, straight to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars.

Some ingredients can be hard to find where you live, so I adapted the recipe. For one, I actually prefer toasted mung beans over black sesame for the topping. They are very commonly used in Thailand, but I haven’t found them at my Asian grocery store. For the same reason, I completely left out two other ingredients: a pandan leaf, which lends a vanilla-like scent, and butterfly pea, a flower that is often used to dye rice (and sometimes noodles) blue. The latter is only cosmetic and the most optional, but if you can get pandan, it really elevates the flavor. You can add both of these ingredients while cooking the sauce to give off their flavor and color respectively. Take them out afterwards as they should not be eaten.

Recipe credit

Like most of my recipes, I started this one out by basing it largely on an existing one, or in this case two: Mango Sticky Rice by Omnivore’s Cookbook, and the cooking class recipe from House Of Taste. I’ve since practiced it many times, made changes to the ingredients and steps (sometimes very few, sometimes many), and written up as much additional advice as I could based on my own experience.

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5 from 1 vote

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Mango Sticky Rice

There's nothing like fruity mango with steamed glutinous rice in a thick and sweet, yet slightly salty sauce.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Soaking time12 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 4 people

Equipment

• 1 Thai sticky rice steamer or any steamer basket usable for rice
• 1 cotton cloth or similar so the rice doesn't fall in the water

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

• 4 small mangoes or 2-3 larger ones
• 200 g glutinous Thai rice
• 400 ml coconut milk usually 1 can
• 50 g white sugar
• 2 g salt
• 60 ml water optional
• 2 tsp corn starch or tapioca starch optional
• some black sesame seeds optional

Instructions

Soak the rice (night before!)

• Rinse the rice briefly once in cold water.
• Put it into a bowl and add about twice as much water in volume.
• Store the bowl in the fridge overnight.

Steam the rice

• Pour out the excess water from the rice bowl.
• Add the rice to a steamer of your choice (see comments above).
• Add water to the pot under the steamer basket and set to high heat.
• Once it's boiling and begins to steam the rice, turn the heat down to medium. Continue to steam the rice for 20-25 minutes.
• When it's just about done, you should try a grain or two to make sure there is no hard center left inside.

  But until that happens, get the sauce and mangoes ready!

Make the sauce

• Combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
• Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted. Do not bring to a boil!
• If you like the sauce a little thicker (or your coconut milk is very thin), make a slurry by stirring the corn starch into the water, and adding it to the saucepan.
• Turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.

Cut the mangoes

• Peel the mangoes. There are many methods for this online, but I recommend using a simple potato peeler.
• Cut into the flesh past the flat pit on both sides so you have two large slices plus the pit with some additional pulp on it. Detailed instructions in the notes above.

  (For the prettiest result, only serve the two slices. Use the pulp on the pit some other time, or maybe just snack it right now.)
• Cut the two large pieces of flesh the short way into 1-2 cm wide strips (see photos of results).

Assemble

• Remove the steamer from the heat and put all the rice into a mid-sized bowl.
• Add 250ml (1 cup) of the sauce to the rice and mix well so the rice absorbs the sauce. Let cool until the rice is lukewarm.
• Meanwhile, distribute the mango slices to small plates for serving.
• If you want, briefly toast the black sesame seeds in a small pan (even though they are pre-toasted) to get them extra fragrant.
• Distribute the lukewarm rice to the plates next to the mangoes.
• Pour some more sauce over the rice on the plates. Put the rest on the table for self-service.
• Sprinkle each plate with sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Oh! It’s actually pretty sweet. As in sugary. But also pretty sweet as in awesome.

A Patron

I originally learned a great Pad Thai recipe at House Of Taste in Bangkok that I altered based on experiments back home, and then refined again based on the Siamese Cookery House Cooking Class. One thing I learned is that Pad Thai is actually a fusion dish, as noodles are from China and weren’t widely eaten in Thailand until Pad Thai was introduced in the 1930s. That’s right – the national dish of Thailand is actually pretty young.

Apologies for the large number of notes on this one. I recommend reading them all before cooking, as there are lots of things to consider, ingredients to swap or leave out, and metrics to adjust to your liking. It’s just five extra minutes that will go a long way, and I promise that making the dish itself won’t be hard.

Packing heat

Timing is important with this recipe, as things move fast once the wok is hot. You want to keep the heat high and not cook anything for too long, or the Pad Thai will come out mushy. Consequently, this recipe works best in a wok over an open flame. A countertop stove on high heat works too, but will take longer and won’t come out quite the same. If you’re cooking for more than two people, you should make and serve the food in 2-person batches. Trying to make all servings at once will overcrowd and cool down the wok too much.

In order to get the timing right, you absolutely need to pre-portion and gather everything as described in the recipe. One slightly tricky part is not to under- or overcook the noodles. You can pre-cook them a little and then only briefly toss them in, or add them completely raw (but soaked!) and have some extra water ready if they take longer, and the wok is starting to dry out. Just try one to be sure.

Don’t add the mung bean sprouts and garlic chives until the noodles are all but done, you don’t want them in the wok for more than a minute before taking it off the heat.

In a pickle?

Pad Thai recipes usually call for preserved salted radish, which can be hard to find where you live. An easy alternative is to pickle some radish at home. In my photos, you can see some pickled napa cabbage I still had in the fridge, although the texture is quite different, and you usually want the pickle to provide some crunch. Zha cai (Chinese pickled mustard stem) also works very well using the same amount per serving. If you can’t find any of that and don’t want to make your own, just leave it out.

Balancing act

Pad Thai is all about balancing sourness, sweetness, and spiciness. The recipe should provide a decent baseline, but everybody’s idea of a good balance is different. That is why, in Thailand, you are often served a number of condiments on the side. Lime and peanut are crucial, followed by chili flakes. Some places in Thailand also serve a bowl of white sugar on the side. I don’t like the crunchy undissolved crystals on top, personally, so it’s not in the recipe. You can also reserve some of the bean sprouts for garnish to add freshness and crunch. (Balance aside, quite a few people like myself are allergic to peanuts, so please don’t make us scrape the tiny crumbs off our noodles again.)

Good Pad Thai is all about getting and prepping the right ingredients. Cooking it is fast!

Tamarind “paste”

What does “tamarind paste” vs. “pulp” vs. “concentrate” vs. just “tamarind” mean in a recipe? Let’s do the deep dive another day. For this recipe, you don’t want a solid block of tamarind, you don’t want a sauce with anything extra added for use with a specific dish, and you definitely don’t want an Indian tamarind product, as those have a completely different taste.

You can use either the sauce-like diluted tamarind that usually comes in plastic squeeze bottles, or the somewhat less diluted, less liquid tamarind paste that comes in a jar, the latter being a little more intense in flavor. The important part is that it be just tamarind and water (and preservatives).

Tamarind is a key ingredient you should not skip. I’ve seen substitutes for it online (such as ketchup) that I haven’t tried, but I’m skeptical as they don’t provide its signature sourness.

More on the ingredients

Just a few more notes, and I’ll finally let you make the dish:

• If you’re not into seafood, replace the shrimp with bite-sized pieces of chicken breast, or leave it out altogether for a vegetarian variation.
• I used smoked tofu once, which is not authentic, but tasted great.
• Pad Thai noodles are straight, and their thickness varies – I recommend 5mm. If you can only find pho noodles, they should work as well.
• Some Pad Thai recipes call for just “chives”. Don’t get confused: In Thailand (and other parts of Asia), this means garlic chives by default, not the tubular type more commonly used in the West.

Recipe credit

This recipe is originally based on two others: the one by RecipeTin Eats, and the one I cooked at the House Of Taste cooking class. I’ve practiced it many times, made countless tweaks to the ingredients and steps, and written up as much additional advice as I could.

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4 from 1 vote

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Shrimp Pad Thai

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 2 people

Equipment

• 1 mortar for crushing the peanuts optional

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

Sauce

• 0.5 tsp chili flakes plus more for serving
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar or palm sugar
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

Stir-fry

• 150 g Pad Thai noodles dry weight
• 100 g firm tofu
• 12 large shrimp raw
• 1 egg large
• 40 g mung bean sprouts fresh
• 60 g Thai pickled radish sub zha cai
• 30 g garlic chives (aka Chinese chives) about 6 stalks
• 200 ml water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 0.5 shallot or small onion
• 3 tbsp neutral oil

For garnish

• 13 g peanuts
• 0.5 lime

Instructions

Ahead of time

• If making your own pickled radish (or similar), do it at least a day before.
• If using frozen shrimp, let them thaw at room temperature for about two hours ahead of cooking.

Prepare garnish

• Crush the peanuts, e.g. in a mortar. Don't overdo it, leave some bigger chunks.
• Heat up a small pan without any oil. Add the peanuts and roast them until lightly browned.
• Quarter the lime.
• Set lime and peanuts aside for garnish at the table.

Prepare ingredients

• Put the noodles into a large bowl and pour boiling water over them until completely covered. Let them sit for about 5 minutes, then drain the water.

  (May need to adjust the timings based on package instructions. They should be about half-done before being added to the wok. Notes on getting the right done-ness above!)
• Mentally add "… and set aside, ready to be thrown into the wok" to all the following preparation steps.
• Stir all the sauce ingredients together until well-combined.
• Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes.
• Crush and/or roughly chop the garlic.
• Cut the shallot or onion into thin wedges.
• Chop the garlic chives into 3cm long pieces.
• Finely chop the Thai pickled radish (or zha cai).
• Set the pre-measured water as well as the egg aside.
• Wash the mung bean sprouts and pat dry.

Fry

• Heat the oil in a wok at high heat.
• After a minute or two, throw in the garlic. It should only take a few seconds to brown.
• Add the onion wedges and fry for a few more seconds.
• Crack the egg and add it to the wok. Drop it from a low height to avoid splashing hot oil everywhere.
• Stir to scramble the egg and fry for a few seconds. Keep occasionally stirring and/or rocking the wok from here on out.
• Add the tofu, shrimp, and pickled radish (or zha cai).
• Add the noodles, then stir in the prepared sauce.
• Add about half the water and keep stirring until it's reduced to a sticky sauce.
• Try a noodle, it should be very close to done now. If not, carefully keep adding water until they are.
• Add the garlic chives and mung bean sprouts, stir for no more than a minute.
• Spread to bowls or plates and serve hot. Serve peanuts, lime wedges, and chili flakes on the side.

Adding cashews to a dish almost feels like a cheat code.

The Chef

This is one of those recipes best prepared in a wok over an open flame. Make sure to have everything portioned and chopped so it’s ready to throw in when you need it. Things move fast once the heat is on. If you don’t have an open flame setup, a round-bottom wok on an electric stove will work okay, but (at the very least) take longer.

Cashew Chicken is best served with rice. I only had Basmati handy this time around, but the default choice would be Jasmine rice.

Recipe credit

Like most of my recipes, I started this one out by basing it largely on an existing one, specifically the Thai Cashew Chicken Stir Fry recipe by RecipeTin Eats. I’ve since practiced it many times, made changes to the ingredients and steps (sometimes very few, sometimes many), and written up as much additional advice as I could based on my own experience.

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Cashew Chicken

Adding cashews to a dish almost feels like a cheat code.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

• 200 g Jasmine rice (pre-cooked amount) for serving

Stir-fry

• 250 g chicken thighs boneless & skinless
• 70 g cashews raw & unsalted
• 1 onion small
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 stalks green onions
• 1 red chili pepper desired spiciness
• 2-3 tbsp neutral oil

Sauce

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar white
• 3 tbsp water

Instructions

Prepare ingredients

• Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
• Deseed the chili pepper and thinly slice it. Set aside a few slices for garnish at the end.
• Separate the and white parts of the green onion, then thinly slice both.
• Finely mince the garlic and slice the onion into thin wedges.
• Slice the chicken into thin strips (about 1 cm thick).
• If you make rice on the side, get it started now at the latest.

Stir-fry

• Turn the heat on the wok to medium. Add the oil and give it a minute to heat up.
• Add cashews and cook for 3-4 minutes until they take on a dark golden color.
• Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and store them on some paper towels to absorb the oil.
• Turn the heat up to high. Throw in garlic and onion and fry until lightly browned. Be careful as the garlic easily burns.
• Add the chicken and cook until it's white on its whole surface. No need to brown it.
• Add white part of green onions as well as chili slices. Stir-fry for another minute or two.
• Add the sauce and cook until it reduces down to a thicker, syrupy consistency. This should take no longer than two to three minutes.
• Add the green part of the sliced green onion and the cashews. Mix well.

To serve

• Transfer to plates or bowls along with rice.
• Sprinkle with the reserved chili slices.

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.

Recipe credit

Like most of my recipes, I started this one out by basing it largely on an existing one, specifically he Khao Soi recipe in asia street food by Heike and Stefan Leistner. I’ve since practiced it many times, made changes to the ingredients and steps (sometimes very few, sometimes many), and written up as much additional advice as I could based on my own experience.

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Chicken Khao Soi

An incredible spicy Thai chicken soup with a variety of toppings including deep-fried noodles.

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Simmering time50 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 4

Equipment

• 1 food processor or mortal & pestle ideally both
• gas stove / blowtorch optional

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

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).