Khao Soi: Northern Thai Curry Noodle Soup

Smash the cardamom pods with a pestle or something heavy and take out the seeds; place the seeds into a medium dry skillet. Add the coriander seeds and toast over high heat, moving them constantly, until the coriander seeds darken slightly. Remove and set aside.

In the same skillet over high heat, place the ginger and turmeric slices down and let them sear until they’re slightly charred, this will take 2-3 minutes. Then flip and char the other side and remove from the pan. (See video for what all this charring should look like.)

In the same skillet over high heat, place the sliced shallots and let them sear until charred spots form; this will take just a few seconds. Then stir the shallots and let them char a bit more, then remove from the pan.

Remove the stems from dried chilies and use scissors to cut them into chunks, pouring out the seeds as you cut them, but no need to get every seed out. Add the chilies to a coffee/spice grinder along with the black cardamom and coriander seeds and grind into a powder, remove and set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger and turmeric slices into a fine paste. Then add the shallots and the coarse salt and pound into a fine paste. Once the mixture starts to get wet and slippery, add some of the ground spices to help absorb moisture, which will make it easier to grind.

Once you’ve got a fine paste, add any remaining dried spices and pound just to mix.

In a medium pot, add ½ cup (120 ml) of the coconut milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir to dissolve, then keep stirring for a few minutes until the mixture is very thick and coconut oil starts to sizzle around the edges of the paste. (If the paste is very thick and the coconut oil has not sizzled, this is okay, you can move on.)

Add the remaining coconut milk and stir to dissolve the curry paste. Then add water, soy sauce, black soy sauce, sugar, and the chicken drumsticks. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and let simmer gently for about 40 minutes or until the drumsticks are fork tender. While the chicken is simmering, make the crispy noodles and prep the condiments.

*Keep the simmer gentle as we do not want the soup to reduce too much.

Once the chicken is done, taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce or salt if needed (I love adding fish sauce). Remember to make the broth strongly seasoned as it will be diluted slightly once noodles are added. If it has become salty from reducing too much, you can simply add more water.

Take 3 oz (85 g) of the noodles for frying. Loosen them and shake off excess flour, then use scissors to cut them a few times so they are about 4 inches long.

Heat about 2″ of frying oil in a wide pot or wok to 350°F (175 °C).

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add a SMALL handful of noodles (they will expand A LOT) into the oil and press the noodles down as they fry to submerge them. Fry until the noodles are golden brown AND the bubbling is almost gone. Remove and drain on a paper towel and repeat with the remaining noodles. Tip: If you’ve put in too many noodles and they cannot be submerged, you’ll need to flip them halfway through to fry the top.

*No bubbling means noodles are crispy so you want to wait until the bubbles are almost gone before you take them out. If the noodles are browning faster than the bubbles can slow down, your heat is too high.

Add any amount of spicy chili flakes to a small pot and add just enough neutral flavoured oil so the chili flakes look like wet sand.

Turn the heat on medium low and keep stirring until the chilies start to darken and smell smoky – just a few minutes. Transfer into a small bowl immediately to stop the cooking.

Bring a large pot of water to a full boil on high heat. Meanwhile, loosen the noodles and shake off any excess flour.

Once the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook until they are done – this will vary from brand to brand so if you’re not sure, keep checking them every minute or so. (As a reference, the flat wonton noodles shown in the video take 3 minutes.)

While the noodles are cooking, and if you’re cooking multiple servings, prepare a mixing bowl for the cooked noodles to go into, and add about a tablespoon of oil into the bowl to help noodles separate. (If you have garlic oil, this is a great place to use it!)

Use a slotted skimmer to fish the noodles out, shake off excess water, and add them into your bowl with oil. Toss the noodles in the oil, then divide the noodles into serving bowls.

Place 1 to 2 chicken drumsticks into each bowl, then ladle the hot curry broth over them – the broth is quite rich so you don’t need much broth. For an extra flare, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of coconut milk on top which will make it look prettier and adds a little more richness.

Top with a handful of the crunchy noodles and some chopped cilantro if desired, then serve immediately with all the condiments.

Chopped cilantro and/or green onions for garnish,1 lime,¼ cup chopped shallots or red onion,Fried chili flakes,½ cup chopped pickled mustard greens