Kao Soi Food

KAO SOI

Steps:

• For the slow-cooked chicken: Sear the chicken thighs in rice bran oil in a wok over high heat. Add the peppercorns, cinnamon and star anise. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the chicken skin is crispy, 10 minutes.
• Put the chicken in a large pot. Add the palm sugar, black soy sauce, thin soy sauce, celery and garlic. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 hours.
• For the curry sauce: Place the curry paste, red onion, ginger, cumin, dried chiles and cardamom in a blender and blend into a thick paste.
• Heat the rice bran oil in the wok over medium heat. Add spice paste and lower the heat; cook until you can smell the curry, around 7 minutes. Add the coconut milk, granulated sugar, palm sugar, fish sauce, 4 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 gallons water. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
• To serve: Put some boiled egg noodles in a bowl. Add slow-cooked chicken and curry sauce and top with fried egg noodles, green onions and red onions.

KHAO SOI SOUP

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir chopped shallots and garlic until garlic starts to turn golden, 2 to 4 minutes. Add red curry paste and curry powder; cook and stir until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, water, chicken, and sea salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer soup.
• Mix fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice into soup and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes more.
• Heat 1/2 cup oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; fry Thai chile peppers until browned, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer chile peppers to soup, reserving oil in skillet. Fry quartered shallots and bok choy in hot oil until browned, 2 to 4 minutes; transfer to soup and reserve oil in skillet.
• Place noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside until noodles are softened, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Add 3/4 of the noodles to the soup. Fry the remaining rice noodles in the hot oil until crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Divide soup among 6 bowls and top with fried noodles, pickled cabbage, cilantro, and lime wedges.

CHICKEN KHAO SOI

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of the rich coconut milk (the white, opaque part that has risen to the top) to medium heat and stir in the curry pastes. Stir-fry this mixture for about 1 minute, until the paste starts to deepen in color and is thick and fragrant. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and lime leaves. Add the cooked chicken pieces and stir to coat the pieces in the paste, about 1 minute. Increase the heat to high to bring to a boil. Allow this to boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to a strong simmer, about 10 minutes. Once the volume of liquid has evaporated by about 1/4 or the liquid coats the back of a wooden spoon, proceed.
• Next, add the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind. Finish with the chicken stock. Taste and adjust as necessary.
• To serve: Separate the noodles into 4 bowls and place a chicken leg in each. Ladle about 6 to 8 ounces of the rich broth over each noodle bowl. Garnish with crispy noodles, mustard greens, shallots, scallions and cilantro on top.
• Place the chicken leg quarters in a stock pot and cover with 8 cups cold water. Bring to a simmer. Add the galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves, garlic, shallot and chiles to the stock and allow to simmer. Skim foam and fat often, continue to simmer for about 1 hour 30 minutes. Reserve the cooked chicken legs. Skim off any additional fat and strain the stock through cheesecloth.

KHAO SOI ( THAI COCONUT NOODLE SOUP)

Steps:

• Start a pot of boiling water, to cook the rice noodles and make sure to follow your package directions, as rice noodles can differ. Drain and rinse with water to help prevent them from sticking together. A little oil to coat, will help here, or if you time it right, you can add it directly to the soup.
• While water is boiling, prep the shallot, garlic, lemongrass, red bell pepper, then get all other ingredients ready by the stove.
• In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot and lemongrass. Saute until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, saute 1-2 minutes. Add red curry paste, turmeric, and a pinch of cardamom. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk , chicken broth and kefir lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering add the bell pepper, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic paste.
• Add the prawns (or chicken or crispy tofu) and gently simmer until cooked. Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/ red curry paste if necessary.
• Drain the noodles. If serving all of the soup immediately, toss the noodles right into the pot and then serve. Alternatively, divide noodles into the bowls and ladle the flavorful soup over top- a bit easier to handle.
• Garnish with fresh basil, pickled mustard greens, crispy noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onion, lime wedge, or chopped scallions.

KHAO SOI (CHIANG MAI) NOODLES

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven, wok, or saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons oil. When the oil begins to simmer, sear chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total. (It will finish cooking in the curry, so don't worry if it's not cooked through.) Set drumsticks aside, leaving pan over heat.
• To heated pan, add 3/4 cup coconut milk (if using canned coconut milk that has separated, use the top, thicker portion of the milk) to the pan. Simmer coconut milk, stirring constantly, until it has reduced by half and you can see oil separating from the milk, 5 to 6 minutes. (Note: This step to "break" the coconut milk is part of the traditional process, but don't worry if your coconut milk doesn't show signs of separating after this initial cook time - just proceed with the recipe.)
• To coconut milk, add Khao Soi curry paste or seasoning packet and simmer, stirring constantly, until thick and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add chicken pieces and stir to coat in curry paste.
• Pour chicken stock and remaining 1 cup coconut milk over chicken.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to maintain a low simmer. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through and very tender, 20 minutes for cubed chicken and 30 minutes for drumsticks.
• Turn on the pressure cooker's sauté function to normal / medium. When hot, add 2 Tablespoons oil. When the oil begins to simmer, sear chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total. (It will finish cooking in the curry, so don't worry if it's not cooked through.) Set drumsticks aside, leaving sauté function on.
• To heated pot, add 3/4 cup coconut milk (if using canned coconut milk that has separated, use the top, thicker portion of the milk).
• To coconut milk, add Khao Soi curry paste or seasoning packet and simmer, stirring constantly, until thick and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add chicken and stir to coat in curry paste.
• Pour chicken stock and remaining 1 cup coconut milk over chicken.
• Turn off saute function and let the mixture cool slightly. Scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan (this is a key step to prevent the burn error).
• Close and lock the lid. Set steam valve to Sealing. Cook on manual / high for 15 minutes.
• Let pressure naturally release for 5 minutes and then manually release any remaining pressure.
• Heat a Dutch oven, wok, or saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons oil. When the oil begins to simmer, sear chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total. (It will finish cooking in the curry, so don't worry if it's not cooked through.) Set drumsticks aside, leaving pan over heat.
• To heated pan, add 3/4 cup coconut milk (if using canned coconut milk that has separated, use the top, thicker portion of the milk) to the pan. Simmer coconut milk, stirring constantly, until it has reduced by half and you can see oil separating from the milk, 5 to 6 minutes. (Note: This step to "break" the coconut milk is part of the traditional process, but don't worry if your coconut milk doesn't show signs of separating after this initial cook time - just proceed with the recipe.)
• To coconut milk, add Khao Soi curry paste or seasoning packet and simmer, stirring constantly, until thick and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer coconut and curry mixture to the bowl of a slow cooker. Add chicken stock, remaining 1 cup coconut milk and chicken.
• Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 to 7 hours.
• When the curry is nearly finished, fill a wok, Dutch oven, or saucepan with about 4 inches of vegetable oil and place it over medium heat. Set a plate lined with paper towels nearby. When the oil is hot, fry 6 ounces of noodles in batches until golden brown and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure that each portion of noodles is roughly the right size to top each bowl of soup. Transfer fried noodles to paper towels and season immediately with some salt.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 4 ounces noodles. Boil until just tender (they should still have a bit of a chewy texture). Drain.
• When the curry is finished, taste and season with some salt, fish sauce, or a pinch of sugar if you'd like. (This is a key step for a great Thai curry. Customizing to taste means you'll get a curry that you love every time.)
• Divided boiled noodles between serving bowls. Ladle curry over top. Finish with fried noodles and toppings

CHIANG MAI CURRIED NOODLES (KHAO SOI GAI)

Steps:

• First, make the pickled chilli & shallots: Put the chilli and shallots in a small bowl and pour the vinegar over. Add some salt and let it sit to pickle while you make the curry.
• In a large saucepan, heat the 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Add the curry paste and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for 5 mins, then add the curry powder and chilli flakes. Cook for 1 min more, then add the coconut milk, coconut cream, stock, fish sauce and lime juice. Bring to a simmer.
• Chop the chicken into pieces and add to the curry. Cook for 15 mins or until tender.
• Boil some water in a large saucepan for the noodles. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a small wok - it's ready when a small piece of bread sizzles when dropped in. Add 75g of the noodles to the wok in 4 batches until they bubble up and go crispy. Use a wire mesh ladle or slotted spoon to remove them and drain on kitchen paper.
• Boil the remaining noodles for 2-3 mins until al dente, then drain. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls. Pour the curry over each and top with coriander, beansprouts, some drained pickled chilli & shallots, spring onions and a drizzle of chilli oil. Top with the crisp noodles and devour while it's hot.

CHIANG MAI CURRY NOODLES (KAO SOI)

Steps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and then add the garlic. Toss well and add the red curry paste, mashing and stirring to soften it in the oil, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook 1 to 2 minutes, tossing now and then to brown it evenly and mix it with the curry paste.
• Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, turmeric, soy sauce, sugar and salt and stir well. Bring to a gentle boil and adjust heat to maintain a lively simmer. Cook about 10 minutes until meat is cooked through.
• Stir in lime juice, remove from heat and cover to keep curry warm while you prepare the noodles.
• Cook the noodles in a large pot of rapidly boiling water until tender but still firm, as little as 2 minutes for fresh noodles and 7 minutes or more for dried. Drain, rinse well in cold water, drain again and divide the noodles among individual serving bowls. Ladle on hot curry, and sprinkle each serving with the shallots, cilantro and green onions. Serve hot and garnish with crunchy noodle nests as noted in description if using.