Bowl of Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup
(click to enlarge)

Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup


Thailand
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 soup
***
55 min
Prep		 Easy to make, this soup has a light flavor and a thick smooth consistency. It can serve as either a soup course or as a light main dish. Though not in the original recipe, it seems not quite right to me without Straw Mushrooms, so I usually add a can of those.




4
8
2
5/8
6
3
2
4
2
14
3
2
----
oz
oz

in
oz
cl
T

T
oz
c
T
---
Rice Noodles (1)
Chicken meat (3)  
Lemon Grass
Galangal (2)
Shallots
Garlic
Cilantro Root (4)
Thai Chilis (5)
Lime Juice
Coconut Milk
Stock
Fish Sauce (5)
-- Garnish
Cilantro leaves
Prep   -   (25 min)
  1. IF using DRIED RICE NOODLES: Break them to a convenient length and place them in a heatproof bowl. Boil plenty of water and pour it over the rice noodles. Let them soak about 20 minutes to an hour depending on thickness. Drain. If they were in a skein, set the lump on your cutting board and make a few cuts across it so they are of manageable length.
  2. IF using FRESH RICE NOODLES, break them to a convenient length depending on thickness - thick ones shorter.
  3. Cut CHICKEN into strips about 1/8 inch thick, 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long.
  4. Pull tough outer leaves from LEMON GRASS and cut off the hard root end. Cut the bottom 6 inches of each into two 3 inch lengths. Crush the large end of each piece with your kitchen mallet, leaving the other end to hold the brush together.
  5. Slice GALANGAL thin.
  6. Chop SHALLOTS fine. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Chop CILANTRO ROOT fine. Mix all and pound to a paste in a large mortar, or run in a mini-prep food processor as fine as you can get it.
  7. Cap CHILIS and split into shreds.
  8. Squeeze LIME JUICE.
  9. Separate CILANTRO LEAVES from the stems for garnish.
Run   -   (30 min)
  1. In a Saucepan, mix Coconut Milk, Stock, Lemon Grass, Galangal and the Shallot mix. Bring up to a boil uncovered (coconut milk foams over even worse than cow milk). Cover and simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors.
  2. Stir in Chicken and simmer another 10 to 20 minutes until tender.
  3. Fish out Lemon Grass and Galangal.
  4. Stir in Rice Noodles, Fish Sauce and Chilis. Simmer until noodles are tender (2 to 15 minuts).
  5. Take off heat and stir in Lime Juice.
  6. Serve hot.
NOTES:

  1. Rice Noodles:

      Weight is for dried rice noodles (most available). If using fresh, use double the weight. Dried ones should be no thicker than 0.07 inches (1.8 mm) and even those will need an hour to soak. Fresh ones can be up to 0.16 inch (4 mm). The photo example was made with Thin Rice Noodles (0.04 inch / 1 mm). For details see our Rice Noodles page.

  2. Chicken:

      Weight is for skinless, boneless. I use thigh meat which has much more flavor than the dry cardboard breast meat we get around here.

  3. Galangal

      This board hard relative of ginger imparts a unique flavor to Southeast Asian soups and stews. Fresh is best but frozen is fine. Dried and powdered is not acceptable. If you don't have it, use fresh Ginger Root - not at all the same, but acceptable. For details see our Galangal page.

  4. Cilantro Root:

      This is very difficult to find even here in Los Angeles. We usually have to resort to using Cilantro Stems (no leaves). Increase the amount by half as stems are bulkier (measure is after chopping fine).

  5. Thai Chilis:

      This amount makes a fairly mild soup by Southern California standards - use your own best judgement here. If you don't have Thai chilis, fresh Arobols (red or green) are a good substitute, or one small Serrano. For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  6. Fish Sauce:

      This clear liquid is as essential to Southeast Asian cuisine as it was to Imperial Rome. If you are unfamiliar with it, see our Fish Sauce - Introduction page.
  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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