Khao Soi Gai: Thai Chicken Curry Soup

This is one of my favorite Thai comfort-style dishes. It is a mouth-watering combination of a spicy and creamy coconut curry soup, together with crunchy noodles and fresh toppings like cilantro, red onions, and pickled mustard greens. With its origins in the Northern parts of Thailand, the dish can be found in and around Chiang Mai. Nowadays you can find Khao Soi in many variations all over Thailand, due to its popularity. 

During a recent trip to Thailand, I found myself indulging a Khao Soi 5 times. Back in The Netherlands I was already craving a bowl of Khao Soi soup after two weeks. I decided to re-create my favorite version from a small restaurant in Chiang Mai. While the list of ingredients may seem daunting, trust me it will be worth it! This recipe serves 8 portions, because I do not like to go through all this effort for only two servings. This doesn't mean you have to cook it all at once. You can also make this curry paste and freeze the rest. You can keep it in your freezer for about 3 months. 

Traditionally they use fresh egg noodles, which are used for the crispy topping and the boiled noodles inside of the soup. Unfortunately, I am not able to find fresh egg noodles in my area. I've used dried egg noodles and wonton wrappers for that essential crunch.

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If you are not able to buy all the ingredients for the curry paste, you can also buy a decent red or panang curry paste. I would always recommend to enhance the taste with some fresh aromatics to the pot when using store-bought curry paste. For example: lime leaves, lemongrass, and ginger. This will help a lot in the final result. Also, keep in mind that these store-bought curry pastes usually are very salty, so be careful with the amount of fish sauce you add in the end. 

So, are you having a group of friends over and don't like to be in the kitchen when your guests arrive? Make Khao Soi in advance and blow everybody's mind. Or just treat yourself to a delicious meal 😀

Step 1
Start by soaking the dried chilies in warm water for about 15 minutes. Then clean the ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and shallots and finely chop them. Get rid of the stems of the lime leaves and together with the garlic we will add all of these ingredients to the blender. Start with pulsating mode until you get a rough paste and if necessary, add a few tablespoons of the chili water to ensure you get a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl and add your cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Set aside for now. 

‍Step 2
Now we will make the crispy topping, by adding some oil to a smaller pan and bring this up to 180 degrees Celcius. Cut the wonton wrappers into strips approximately 0.5 cm wide. fry these strips in small batches and let them drain on kitchen paper. Set aside for later. If you have a deep-fryer, this would be even easier of course. 

‍Step 3
Add a few tablespoons of coconut cream to your soup pan and put the pot on medium heat. Now add all of the curry paste and fry this off for about 5 minutes or until everything is fragrant and some of the oil from the coconut cream starts floating to the top. please keep on stirring during these 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the coconut cream and the water (or broth) and bring to a light simmer.

‍Step 4
When the curry soup is simmering add your drumsticks and black cardamom pods and put the heat to low. after 10 minutes you can also add the chicken thigh. Simmer for about 35-40 minutes or until the chicken is nice and tender. Then add the palm sugar and fish sauce and taste if you need more seasoning.

‍Step 5
Put a pan with water on high heat and in the meantime, we will prepare our other toppings. Finely chop your scallions/spring onions, the cilantro, and dice your red onions. put this on a plate and add lime wedges. The pickled mustard greens are already in the right size, so just add them to a separate bowl. Cook your noodles according to the package instructions and then we are ready to serve some Khao Soi Gai. 

‍Step 6
Add noodles to the bowl and generously cover them with a drumstick, some pieces of chicken thigh, and of course our creamy soup. Then add a handful of the crunchy wonton strips and the rest of the toppings can be added by your guests at the table. Don't forget to add a nice spoon of chili paste/chili crisp on top of you Khao Soi. Enjoy!

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