Khao Suey – A gorgeous warm bowlful

 

Khao Suey - Burmese Chicken Noodle SoupAmericans (including me) love talking weather! Let’s face it, if you are in the east coast the weather does shape your world. Speaking of weather, I feel like I stepped into a deep freezer this morning. Allowing me the perfect excuse to make khao suey.

My Khao Suey Story

At less than zero, you stop looking at the temperature and start planning food strategies to battle the deep freeze. There are very few things that keep you warmer than a comforting bowl of noodle soup. Today we are talking Khao Suey, a noodle soup with spices, coconut and loads of personality.

In a nutshell, Khao Suey is ramen and curry rolled into one amazing delicious package. With a perfect assortment of garnishes, this creature is also loads of fun. The Khao Suey takes me back to the flavors of childhood in a nourishing and delightful way.

The History of Khao Suey

The Khao Suey was imported to eastern India by way of Burma, or Myanmar as my son refers to this tiny country through trade and other associations. There are probably as many recipes for this dish as there are homes in Myanmar. The key essential ingredients being that it adheres to a rich tasting coconut broth, that is robustly seasoned and it is served with an assortment of garnishes.

There are really no hard and fast rules to the garnishes, popular variations being crisp garlic chips, sliced eggs, chopped scallions and even crisp shallots.

KS_650_1 The only detour today in the afternoon, is to stop by the WFAS station to chat Spices and Seasons with Intoxikate on her well organized and thoughtful show called #Fork This.

Back home, I decided to toss together this quick and wholesome noodle dish, which luckily was all wrapped up when the kids were home. As soon as they saw me, they asked me on cue, “Did you make something special, this evening?” A question which never fails to make me happy. After all the something special for them, bless their hearts, is always mom’s cooking.

Steaming Khao SueyThis variation of Khao Suey, is light and filled with generous notes of ginger, lime and chilies. A traditional khao suey is all about chicken.

This version incorporates lots of veggies.

The later has a nice meaty texture and makes this dish perfect for your lenten table. As for the noodles, I used fresh rice noodles that I have recently found at Trader Joes. I absolutely love the texture and the fresh and light taste. So, when the weather is cold, cold, cold this noodle soup is guaranteed to keep you hot, hot, hot!

Other soupy options include my coconut curried noodles and Thai Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup.

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Khao Suey – A gorgeous warm bowlful

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings

Khao Suey – A gorgeous warm bowlful

A Burmese migrant to Eastern India, this dish is popular in many Bengali homes. This is my Hudson Valley rendition.

Ingredients

    For the curry soup base
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 medium sized red onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 2 pods garlic, minced
  • 1/2 pound of boneless skinless chicken, cubed
  • 2 teaspoon powdered coriander
  • 1 teaspoon powdered cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 3/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup pureed tomatoes (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons tamari
  • 3 cups of broth
  • 1 cup of coconut milk
  • 1 medium sized zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 medium sized red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/3 cup cauliflower, florettes chopped
  • 4 to 6 ounces rice noodles
  • 1 lime
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
    • To garnish
  • Oil for frying
  • 4 pods garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
  • sliced jalapeno pepper
  • sliced scallions
  • Thinly sliced carrots

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil and add in the red onion and cook for about five minutes, until soft and wilted. Keep stirring until the onion begins to turn pale golden at the edges.
  2. Add in the finely grated ginger and the garlic and mix well.
  3. Add in the chicken, coriander, cumin, turmeric and red cayenne pepper and mix well.
  4. Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes, until no longer pink.
  5. Add in the pureed tomatoes if using, and the tamari and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Mix in the broth and the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
  7. Add in the zucchini, red bell pepper and the cauliflower and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
  8. Add in the noodles and cook until the noodles are cooked al dente.
  9. Cut the lime and squeeze in the juice and add in the chopped cilantro and serve with the garnishes.
  10. While the soup is cooking, heat the oil and fry the garlic until crisp and golden. Drain with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.
  11. Add the thinly sliced shallots and fry until crisp and place in a bowl.
  12. Arrange the remaining garnishes in individual bowls and serve with the noodle soup
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3 Comments

  • Deborah

    I have made this at least 4 times, varying the vegetables according to what I have on hand. Every time it is so delicious! Easy to prepare as well. We always have a big variety of spices so not a problem to follow the receipt. I am allergic to bell peppers so I leave that one out but it doesn’t seem to matter.

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