Ohno Khawkswe

Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Soup 

The garnishes, clockwise from top left:
cilantro, green onions, hard boiled eggs, fried garlic,
fried onions, limes, red chili flakes.  

Ingredients (Serves 6)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 lb. ground chicken

2 tablespoons fish sauce

5 cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

15-20 pearl onions
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon shrimp sauce (ngapi), mixed with 1 Tbsp. vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups chicken broth

1 14 oz. can light coconut milk

1 14 oz. can thick coconut milk

2 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan), roasted

1 lb. thin egg noodles

Garnishes:

Deep fried onion slices

Deep fried chopped garlic

Roasted chili flakes

5 chopped boiled eggs

Sliced green onions
Sliced yellow onion, soaked in ice water & drained

3 limes cut into eighths

Chopped cilantro

Garlic infused oil

Procedure

1. Cut chicken thighs into serving pieces; marinate in fish sauce and some oil for 20 minutes.  
2. Boil chopped onions in a cup of water until translucent.  Drain and reserve the liquid.
3. In a blender, process 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, garlic, boiled onion, ginger and shrimp paste.
4. Heat remaining vegetable and sesame oils and fry chicken pieces until they change color.  Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Add blended ingredients along with the cream that settles on top of the coconut milk in the 2 cans.
6. Add ground chicken and fry until lightly browned.
7. Add chili powder, paprika, salt, light coconut milk and reserved liquid from boiled onions.
8. Simmer until ground chicken is tender; add a cup of simmering chicken broth if mixture becomes too dry.
9. Heat thick coconut milk and the rest of the chicken broth in the microwave.
10. Add thick coconut milk to the ground chicken in saucepan, bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent mixture from curdling.
11. Add fried chicken pieces, along with pearl onions and simmer for 15 minutes.
12. Mix chickpea flour with a little cold water to a smooth cream, add to the soup and cook for a further 5 minutes uncovered.  There should be lots of gravy.
13. Just before serving, cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 6 minutes.
14. Pour cold water into pan to stop noodles from further cooking, and drain in a colander.
15. Serve noodles in a large bowl and the chicken soup in a separate bowl.
16. Let each guest take a serving of noodles, ladle on a generous amount of the chicken soup and sprinkle garnishes on top.