Khao Soi
Prep time 30 mins
Cook 35 mins
Serves 4
4
Khai soi, as many people know it, is a rich coconut curry with noodles and chicken from Northern Thailand, but it’s also a dish formed of mutating cultures adapting with new ingredients. The dish first came to Chiang Mai in the 1870s, when the Muslim Chin Haw people migrated to the region to trade goods and sell food. Interestingly enough, the original Northern Thai khao soi did not use coconut milk at all in its broth and would have tasted similar to khanom jeen nam ngiaw, a thick curry-like broth with fermented rice noodles. This dish would contain many of the components, like rice noodles and pickled cabbage – an introduction from the Chin Haw/Chinese/Burmese perhaps.
As the trade routes expanded, coconut milk was introduced as a very small part of Chiang Mai cuisine. Until then, it was, in fact, a rather foreign ingredient in Chin Haw and Chiang Mai cuisine. The stark contrast today with the original reflects the contrasting ethnicity that pulled it this and that way. Even its name in the new version bears no logic to the actual dish. Khao means rice and soi means slice, which represents the original sliced rice noodles
that are steamed in rectangular sheets.
The coconut curry version we see today goes back to 1932, when a Chin Haw family opened a shop at Chiang Mai’s Waroros Market (Kad Luang). One of their hardest working local staff members, named Nai Pun, absorbed and learned everything he could about khao soi and its traditional methods and ingredients. In 1945, as World
War II ended, Nai Pun opened his very own shop, but he was faced with an entire city which had embraced khao
soi as part of their cuisine.
To overcome the challenges of the post-war economy, he worked to separate himself from the fierce competition by making several adjustments to the original recipe. Rice noodles were replaced with egg noodles, for one, but the biggest alteration of all was that he began to add fresh coconut milk to the broth – from here this new style of khao soi soared in popularity and quickly became one
of Chiang Mai’s signature dishes.
2 tbsp sunflower
or coconut oil
15g palm sugar
3 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp dark soy sauce
500ml chicken stock
200ml coconut cream (see note)
4 chicken Marylands,
left whole or halved
for smaller portions
500g fresh egg noodles
Chinese preserved
mustard greens (see note), sliced red shallots and
lime wedges, to serve
Roasted chilli oil (optional), to serve
CURRY PASTE
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 star anise
¼ cinnamon quill
2 tsp black cardamom seeds (removed from pods)
12 dried long red chillies, soaked and deseeded
25g red shallots
12g fresh turmeric
25g mature ginger
25g Thai garlic (about
8 cloves, see note)
12 coriander roots
1 lemongrass stalk
(white part)
1. For curry paste, dry roast coriander seeds, star anise, cinnamon and black cardamon in a pan then pound them together until they become a powder. Set aside. Finely pound the chillies, red shallots, turmeric, ginger, garlic, coriander roots and lemongrass in a mortar and pestle, or blend with a hand-held blender to a paste.
2. Heat oil in a wide saucepan or wok over low-medium heat until it shimmers, then add the curry paste and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until fragrant, then add the dry spice powder.
3. Season the paste with the palm sugar and stir until it deepens in colour then continue with fish sauce, soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Add half the chicken stock and coconut cream, if using, then add chicken and simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is very tender. It may be necessary to top up with remaining stock (or water) if sauce gets too thick. Set aside for 1 hour to allow the curry to develop in flavour.
4. To serve, bring the curry back to a simmer to heat through. Cook noodles in boiling water until just cooked (2-4 minutes), then drain. Place noodles in serving bowls and ladle in curry and chicken (you can halve the chicken first if desired). Serve garnished with mustard greens, sliced red shallots and lime, and add chilli oil to taste.
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
NOTE Thai garlic is available from Thai green grocers. Substitute with small regular garlic cloves if unavailable. This version has only a small amount of coconut cream, making the curry full-flavoured. Add more if you prefer.
Words and recipe by Bee Satongun from Paste Australia and Paste Bangkok
