Earlier this year, the New York Times ran an article on the spicy curry soups of Southeast Asia. I especially loved this description:
“Enter, steaming: the rich, spicy chicken noodle soups of Southeast Asia, the love children of Indian curries and Chinese noodle soups. These are chicken noodle soups you want to bathe in: sweet, spicy and fragrant, a happy contrast of hot broth, springy noodles and a madness of garnishes…”
This spicy concoction goes by many names. Where I’m from, it’s called khao poon. During my many cold winters in Boston, I made this almost every other week (and it lasts about a week). I’ve already made this quite a bit this cold San Franciscan summer. Below is my recipe using chicken, the most popular way to have it. I offer some variations below for the adventurous. These are suggested quantities for the ingredients. Making this soup has become so second nature that all the portions are measured out by sense rather than gadgets.
A note about the curry paste. You can use whichever curry you like — red, green, yellow, massaman. I prefer red curry. While you can make these by hand (just Google any recipe), I highly recommend just buying the paste from the store. Less ingredients to buy and the quality is really quite good. Mainstream markets sell a Thai Kitchen brand that is just so-so. I usually get the Mae Ploy brand which is carried by most Asian specialty markets.
Chicken Khao Poon
Time: 20-30 minutes prep, 20 minutes cook time
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 lb. rice noodles, depending on your preference, thin spaghetti like (not angel hair or spaghetti)
1 whole chicken or 3-4 chicken breasts
Soup Base:
3 lbs. pan-seared mixed mushrooms – I like shitake, oyster and enoki (optional)
1 TBSP olive oil
12 oz. bamboo shoots, shredded (or pre-shredded in chili oil but rinse before cooking)
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
6-8 Thai eggplant, quarter or sliced (optional)
1 1/2 TBSP curry base
1-2 TBSP peanut butter (or crushed roasted peanuts) to balance out coconut milk
4-5 kaffir lime leaves (or zest of 2 limes)
1 can unsweetend coconut milk (8 to 10 oz.)
64 oz. chicken stock or water
2-3 scallions, cut to 2-in lengths and julienned
Garnish (all optional):
Cilantro, coarsely chopped
Pakwae leaves (long leaves with saw edges), chopped
Vietnamese cilantro, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
Fried onions (you can buy these at Asian markets, or pan fry some thinly sliced onions)
Extra ground dried red chili flakes to taste
Lime wedges
Heat water in a pot large enough to cover chicken. Rinse chicken thoroughly and add to pot (this can be before water boils). Cook 15 minutes for breasts and 20 minutes for whole chicken. Remove from heat, reserving the chicken stock (de-grease if needed), and let cool. When cool enough to handle, tear chicken apart — keep drumsticks and wings whole, and coarsely shred the rest (remove skin if you’d like). Set aside. Bones can be used if desired. (When boiling chicken, I usually add 1 stalk lemon grass, root crushed; 2-inch piece of ginger slices; 1 small whole yellow or white onion; 2-3 dried whole chilis. Not necessary, but I like infusing flavor.)
While chicken is cooking, bring large stock pot of salted water to boil, and add rice noodles. Stir quickly and often to prevent sticking. Noodles are done when al dente, otherwise it will be mushy (and it will be served in steaming hot broth). Drain in colander. Add cold water to stock pot and add noodles back in. Stir thoroughly and drain again. Repeat once or twice more. This helps remove starch and stops noodles from cooking. Because rice noodles can stick together and be difficult to handle if not immediately eaten, prepare noodles into serving portions. With noodles in cold water, gather a handful with tips of your fingers and using other hand, brush downward on the noodles to remove excess water. Lay in colander. Cover and set aside.
Gathering up noodles into serving size packets
Pan sear the mushrooms and set aside.
For soup base, use large pot (I use a 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch over). Heat olive oil and add tomatoes and thai eggplant. Sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add curry paste, peanut butter, and lime leaves. Mix well and add bamboo shoots. Stir ingredients together and then add coconut milk. Let mixture simmer for 5 minutes.
Letting all the flavors meld together
Add add reserved chicken. Stir well and let all the flavours combine together for another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock. Cover and bring to boil. Taste and add more salt, if needed. Lower heat and cook another 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add mushrooms and julienned green onions.
To serve, add 1-2 noodle bundles into soup bowl. Garnish as desired. Ladle soup over noodles.
My hot spicy chicken curry
For variations:
* Vegetarian khao poon: Take a pack of firm tofu, slice along the short side into 1/2 inch slices. Sear/brown each side in pan with a little olive oil over low heat, about 5-8 minutes on each side. Cut each slice in half. Add tofu as garnish. Use vegetable broth, of course.
* Pork khao poon: Slice pork into bite site pieces and sautee thoroughly in olive oil before adding ingredients for soup base. You can also roast pork and add it to mixture where you add the cooked chicken.
* Seafood khao poon: I like a mixture of shrimp, firm white fish, squid, and scallops. If using fish, a firm fish like halibut or monkfish works well. If using shrimp, boil shells and strain for a quick and simple seafood stock for the soup, otherwise, store-bought seafood broth or plain water will do. Add the seafood to soup base just after it comes to a boil. No pre-cooking necessary.
