Are you ready for an explosion of Thai flavour? This chicken curry noodle soup packs some serious spicy heat. Loaded with rice noodles, vegetables, tender chunks of chicken and a warm broth with a built-in spicy oil garnish. This is one seriously warming bowl of comfort for all you spicy food lovers out there.
Hands down, the best part of this soup is the built-in spicy oil layer. This is made by toasting all the aromatics and chili peppers in coconut oil before making the broth. When heated, the aromatics and chili peppers release their essential oils giving the coconut oil some of their flavour and spicy heat. Keep toasting and stirring until all the spices become fragrant, your nose will let you know when it’s time to move on to the next step! When the rest of the broth components are added, the aromatics will mix into the broth while the spicy oil will rise to the top. The spicy oil ends up suspended on top of the broth in a thin layer. A little bit of the oil ends up in each spoonful of broth, meaning every bite is bursting with spicy Thai flavours. From the chicken broth, aromatics and spices to the coconut milk, lime and cilantro- this soup has crazy depths for your tongue to explore.
The Spices
Lemongrass - The stalks can sometimes be found in your local grocery store in the cold produce section. The outer layers are removed to expose the white core which will smell heavily of lemon. Mince it up and you are ready to go. If you can't find the whole stalks, a tube of pre-minced lemongrass can typically be found with the other pre-prepared herbs.
Garlic - good-ole garlic; need I say more? Peel the cloves and mince or use a garlic crusher.
Ginger - Fresh ginger is always preferred, there's nothing quite like the bright flavour. Peel the root and finely grate to prepare. If you must, powdered ginger can be used instead.
Turmeric - Fresh turmeric has a root-like appearance, similar to a small hand of ginger with a bright orange-red colour once peeled. To prepare, peel the outside layer using a vegetable peeler and then finely grate it. I highly recommend using gloves, since turmeric will stain your hands yellow. Seriously, I still have a lightswitch with a yellow finger print on it. If you can’t find fresh turmeric, use the dried powder instead.
Red Curry Paste - Use either your favourite homemade recipe or buy some from your local grocery store!
Chili Peppers - Bring on the heat! This soup is fiery hot. Fresh red Thai peppers are the way to go with their relatively high count on the Scoville scale. The level of heat will depend on how many chili peppers you add to the broth. Dice them and limit yourself to 2-3 for the perfect level of spicy fire (use one if you can’t handle spice as well). If you can’t find red Thai peppers, try dried àrbol chili peppers instead; I was able to find some at my local grocery store. For these dried chili peppers, the scale is 3-5 chilis with 3 being mild and 5 being hot (5 is the perfect amount for my spicy-food-loving taste buds!). Gauge your audience and add the amount of hot peppers you think you and your family/friends can handle. Dried peppers can be added whole to the aromatic toasting step. Leave them in the broth right up until you are ready to plate the bowls.
Next, get a leftover chicken carcass. Any time you make a whole chicken (or buy a rotisserie chicken), save the carcass! If you aren’t going to use it right away, freeze it for a later date. Chicken carcasses are a great base for any chicken-based broth. I usually use them for chicken noodle soup and ramen and now this recipe has been added to my chicken bone rotation. You want the carcass to still have some meat left on it with the skin mostly removed. Add the chicken, water and salt to the pot. Bring to a boil before reducing the heat, covering the pot and simmering for 1 hour. The chicken bones will impart a nice chicken flavour to the broth and the meat will become incredibly tender, soaking up the spicy broth.
While the broth is cooking, you have all the time in the world (not actually, it’s only an hour) to get the rest of the puzzle pieces ready:
~ Cook the vermicelli rice noodles according to their directions and let them rest in an ice bath to stop them from cooking more than intended before draining in a colander. Set aside. As for the amount, I typically do 50g of dried rice noodles per serving.
~ Wash, peel and slice up a large carrot either in rounds or matchstick slices.
~ Cut off the end root of a bunch of enoki mushrooms and pull them apart, separating each long string of mushroom.
~ Cut off the base of the baby bok choys and rinse each piece thoroughly.
~ Slice the shishito peppers into rings. Alternatively, chop half a yellow bell pepper into bite sized portions.
~ Slice the green onion ends into small rings and the white onion into half-moon slices
~ Prepare some cilantro leaves by washing them, patting them dry and pulling them off the stem.
~ Cut some lime wedges for a bit of acidity in the final bowl.
After an hour, the soup broth is almost ready. Fish out the chicken carcass using a large slotted spoon, some tongs, or a wire mesh colander. The carcass will practically fall apart since the meat is so tender. Pick the leftover meat from the bones and throw it all back in the soup. Set a timer for 4 minutes and add the carrot, shihito or bell pepper and white onion. At the 3 minute mark, add the enoki mushrooms. Add the baby bok choy and most of the green onion slices with 30 seconds left; any more than a minute and the bok choy will get too soft.The final component is the can of coconut milk. Stir in the coconut milk, take the pot off the heat and the broth is complete! Time to assemble the bowls.
The best bows for this soup are low and wide ones. Add some rice noodles to the bowl then top with a ladle or two of broth. Try to get a good mix of chicken and veggies in each bowl. Garnish with cilantro leaves and the remaining green onion then squeeze a wedge or two of lime. Eat with a spoon and fork or chopsticks and broth spoon, whatever you are most comfortable with.
This soup is hot, spicy and will warm you right down to your toes. Nothing better than a spicy meal bursting with bold flavours in my humble opinion.
Spicy Chicken Thai Curry Noodle Soup
- Yield: 5 bowls |
- Prep time: 10 min |
- Cook Time: 1 hr 6 min |
Ingredients:
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5 tbsp coconut oil
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3 tbsp red curry paste
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2 tbsp turmeric root, peeled and grated
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1 1/2 tbsp garlic, minced (4-5 cloves)
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1 1/2 tbsp ginger root, peeled and grated
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1 tbsp lemon grass core, minced
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2-3 red Thai chili peppers, diced
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1 leftover chicken carcass (with some meat still on the bones and the skin removed)
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8 cups water
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1 tsp sea salt
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200-250 g uncooked vermicelli rice noodles
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1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into rounds or medium matchsticks
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5-7 shishito peppers, sliced
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1 / 2 white onion, peeled and cut into half moon slices
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100-150 g enoki mushrooms
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2 baby bok choy, washed with bases cut off
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3 green onion, sliced
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1 can coconut milk (160 mL)
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handful cilantro leaves
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wedges of lime
Directions:
1. Add the coconut oil to a large soup pot on the stove and heat up over medium heat.2. Once heated, add the red curry paste, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chili peppers. Stir until a fragrant paste forms, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the leftover chicken carcass, water and salt, stir together with the spicy oil. Bring the broth to a boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the broth for 1 hour.
4. Cook the vermicelli rice noodles according to the package directions, chill in an ice bath and drain in a colander. Set aside for later.
5. Uncover the broth and fish out the chicken carcass using a large slotted spoon, tongs or a metal mesh strainer. Place the bones on a cutting board and pick off all the chicken in chunks. Throw the chicken back in the soup.
6. Add the carrot, pepper and white onion. Cook them for 4 minutes. With 3 minutes left, add the Enoki mushrooms. With 30 seconds left, add the baby bok choy and most of the green onion. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the coconut milk. Take the broth off the heat.
7. In wide and shallow bowls, portion out the rice noodles. Add a ladle or two of broth to each bowl. Make sure to get lots of vegetables and chicken in each bowl. Garnish with the remaining green onions and cilantro leaves then top it off by squeezing the juice from a wedge or two of lime.