This week's soup selection was by Marta of Postcards from the Trail.She chose an awesome Asian soup from NY Times recipes. Here is what Marta says about her soup:
My selection is from a recent NY Times recipe. It is pretty spicy (hot) so you might want to adjust the chili paste depending upon your taste. I also typically make it using 1/2 pound of medium prawns instead of the chicken. You could also use both which is more typical of soup in Malaysia. It usually had a little bit of shredded chicken and a couple of prawns.
I also have preparation pictures of it on my blog.
Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup (Curry Mee)
Time: 45 minutes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced lemon grass or pale green cilantro roots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dark red chili paste, such as sambal, more for serving
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thigh or breast meat, thinly sliced and cut into bite-size pieces
3 tablespoons curry powder, preferably Malaysian, Thai or Vietnamese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar, more to taste
About 12 kaffir lime leaves or curry leaves, fresh or frozen (optional)
8 ounces dried thin rice noodles (bun or vermicelli), or other Asian noodles such as udon or lai fun
Salt to taste
1 cup bean sprouts
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 scallions, cut into thin rings
2 shallots, thinly sliced and deep fried in vegetable oil until brown (optional)
Quartered limes for serving.
1. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and lemon grass and cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Do not brown; reduce heat if necessary. Add garlic and chili paste and stir until fragrant. Raise heat, add chicken and stir-fry one minute. Add curry powder and paprika and stir to coat. Then add coconut milk, half-and-half, chicken stock, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar and lime or curry leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles in boiling water according to package directions (about 4 minutes). Rinse and drain.
3. Taste broth and adjust seasonings with salt and sugar. Divide noodles into large soup bowls. Bring broth to a boil, then ladle over noodles. Top with bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions and fried shallots, if using. Pass limes and sambal at the table.
Yield: 4 main-course servings.
Note: To make this rich soup more substantial, boiled potatoes are sometimes added to the simmering broth and cooked until very soft.
Making this soup is very easy after you get past finding all the ingredients. I was able to find everything I need at the local grocery store, with the exception of lime leaves,and since they are optional I decided to go without. Here are ingredients I never cooked with before:
I noticed that the chili paste I am using is sweet enough, so I never added the sugar, and this passed the taste check test. I used udon for my noodles. And did not use the shallots. It was super delicious soup,not as hot as I thought, so I ended up using more chili paste for serving.
A winner soup! Thanks Marta.
I can taste Thailand already! Six weeks to go!
Comments (5)
I loved this soup also. I think the heat depends on how hot your curry powder is. I blended together 3 types of curry, one of which was from Sri Lanka and it is very hot. So my soup was extremely spicy, but I loved it.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 29, 2009 10:40 AM
Posted on March 29, 2009 10:40
Looks delicious and I can find all the ingredients at my local Asian market. I’ll make it with shrimp.
Posted by María I. | March 29, 2009 11:11 AM
Posted on March 29, 2009 11:11
That's right, you get this as a taste teaser to your upcoming trip, lucky you.
Posted by Marcia | March 29, 2009 11:33 AM
Posted on March 29, 2009 11:33
This was a great soup! I can't wait until you return from Thailand and we hear more about the wonderful food that you eat there.
Posted by Jerry | March 29, 2009 3:40 PM
Posted on March 29, 2009 15:40
I agree with Jerry, I can't wait to hear about the Thai food!
This soup was really delicious.
Posted by Annie | March 30, 2009 9:34 AM
Posted on March 30, 2009 09:34