This week's soup was brought to us by Marta of Postcards From the Trail.
Her choice was a delicious-sounding Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup.
I loved this soup. It is definately restaurant quality. Great spicy flavor. I used chicken only when I made it, but had quite a bit left over, especially the broth, and the next night I added shrimp to it. Wonderful.
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.
Comments (8)
Im going to use your suggestion and add shrimp to our leftover broth for another meal - this was fun to make.
Posted by Marcia | March 29, 2009 9:29 AM
Posted on March 29, 2009 09:29
Marcia-I loved the soup the first time, but even more the second day. Adding shrimp to it is wonderful, and I think the flavors in the broth were better the second day also. Don't remember if I mentioned it, but I used rice noodles the first day, and udon the second day, so that made the soup different also.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 29, 2009 10:39 AM
Posted on March 29, 2009 10:39
Great shots. I agree about the taste of this soup - one of the best that we have made!
Posted by Jerry | March 29, 2009 1:39 PM
Posted on March 29, 2009 13:39
Yours looks yummy! I made it with shrimp originally and it was delicious!
Posted by candi | March 29, 2009 2:41 PM
Posted on March 29, 2009 14:41
Cindy Ruth, after reading so many of the sunday soupers comments I made this yesterday. It was fun to do the shopping and I did all the chopping and prepping before so putting it together was easy. My husband said he wanted a chicken soup and I said I'm gonna surprise you with something different. We both loved it. Next time I'll use shrimp too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Posted by Barb Cabot | March 30, 2009 6:26 AM
Posted on March 30, 2009 06:26
Barb-I'm glad you tried it. And you'll love it with shrimp also. Shopping for it was fun-asian markets always have such unusual ingredients to try out.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 30, 2009 6:36 AM
Posted on March 30, 2009 06:36
I agree, it's restaurant quality. I loved it!
Posted by Annie | March 30, 2009 7:10 AM
Posted on March 30, 2009 07:10
This looks SO delicious and healthy! I can almost smell it!
Posted by Michelle | March 31, 2009 12:49 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 12:49