Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup)

A simple flavorful, creamy, spicy coconut curry soup (khao soi) recipe with a hint of sweetness served with soft egg noodles and topped off with more crispy egg noodles!

There’s something so comforting and addictive about noodles, especially noodles drowning in a piping coconut curry soup. The really cool and unique part about this dish is the crispy noodle topping, you have a mish-mash of wonderful textures from the soft egg noodles to the bits of crispy noodles with a bit of crunch from the pickled mustard greens and shallots.

Making khao soi from scratch is definitely a labor of love. You will need to put in the effort (and elbow grease) to pound the spices and aromatics into crazy flavourful khao soi curry paste – if you have the time, definitely try it.

For this khao soi recipe, I don’t go down the route of making the curry paste from scratch. I have pretty crappy patience sometimes, especially when it comes to noodles so I refined my technique over the years so I can enjoy it with fewer steps (without compromising flavor) so that we can quickly get this on our table to chow down. 🙂

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

For this khao soi recipe, you can find most of the ingredients in an Asian grocery store.

When you are buying red curry paste, makes sure to read the ingredient list to make sure it does not have artificial colors, and preservatives. It should contain the core ingredients of chili peppers, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, and shrimp paste.

For the curry powder in this recipe, try to find Madras curry powder. There are many variations of it but at its core, it should contain the basics: turmeric, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cardamom. Everything extra is a bonus! 🙂

For this recipe, I use both coconut cream and coconut milk. Coconut cream gives the soup a creamier texture and it also has a much stronger coconut flavor which enhances the curry soup. Make sure there are no preservatives or thickeners in the ingredient list when you are buying it. I always find that the ones with preservatives taste less coconutty. The ingredients should only be 2 ingredients: water and coconut milk/coconut extract.

 

What Kind of Noodles Should I Use for Khao Soi?

The noodles you want to look for are fresh egg noodles, they can sometimes be called steamed noodles, chow mein or egg noodles and can usually be found in the refrigerated section with the rest of the fresh noodles. Look for the signature yellow color noodles with eggs in the ingredient list.

Fresh egg noodles come in different thicknesses. I find the thicker noodles to be tastier with this recipe because there’s a lot more chew to it but if you can’t find the thick ones, the thin ones work just as wonderfully!

 

Khao Soi Toppings

One of the most interesting fun things about Khao Soi is adding toppings to tweak it to your flavors and liking. You don’t need to put all of them in, but traditionally this is usually what is served with it. Have fun tweaking the flavors with them! 🙂

 

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

My Quick & Dirty Version of Khao Soi Curry Paste

I am truly a believer that things made from scratch taste better, BUT sometimes if a shortcut makes sense, I will take it – as long as it doesn’t compromise the flavor. In comes my quick and dirty version of khao soi curry paste.

At its core, Khao soi curry paste consists of these main components: chili peppers, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste, cumin, coriander, turmeric and black cardamom.

Smash Your Lemongrass and Keep the Aromatics Whole

Smashing the lemongrass really brings out the oils and flavors so that it can come out in the soup. In addition to smashing the lemongrass, I like to keep my aromatics whole (garlic, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass) and not cut them into small pieces so that I can easily fish them out when the soup is done.

Toast Your Spices

To bring out the flavors of any spices (this includes the curry paste as well), it is always a good idea to toast it in a bit of oil before adding in the liquids to start the soup. When you are toasting the spices and curry paste, you may notice the curry paste occasionally stick to the bottom of the pan and turn brown, this is not a bad thing – this is flavor! 🙂 Once you add the coconut cream and coconut milk, use it to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and you have yourself some serious flavor!

 

Making the Noodles

One of the best parts about khao soi is the soft egg noodles mixed into the creamy curry soup. To make the egg noodles soft, boil it in boiling water for about 45 seconds to 1 minute (Yup, it doesn’t take much time!).

To get the crispy topping that khao soi is known for, you will need to deep fry the noodles (straight out of the package) for about 40 seconds in hot oil. To easily do this, you can use a small pot and add in about 1-2 cm of oil and set it to medium heat. To check if the oil is hot, you can stick a chopstick into it to see if it bubbles, once it bubbles you’re good to go.

 

…but Where’s the Chicken?

I kept this meatless because I find the star of this dish is the curry soup with the crispy and soft egg noodles. Adding chicken to this dish is super easy though, you just add a few chicken drums into the pot right after you are done toasting the coconut cream and spices and let it simmer for 30 minutes with the soup to cook it!! 🙂

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