Khao Soi

How to make it

1. Put the dried chilies in a bowl and pour boiling water over them until fully covered. Let them steep for 20 minutes, until soft enough to mash between your fingers. ⏱ 20 min · passive
2. Drain the chilies and pound them with the salt in a mortar until they form a coarse, moist mass. Add the lemongrass, ginger, cilantro roots, and turmeric and keep pounding until no fibers remain when you check between your fingers. Add the shallots and garlic and pound to a smooth, deep-red paste. Finally, stir in the shrimp paste, ground coriander, and curry powder. If the soft ingredients go in too early, they'll smear the mortar and keep the fibrous parts from being pounded out fully. ⏱ 15 min
   Chef's tip Squeeze the soaked chilies well to get the water out before they go into the mortar. A wet paste stays loose and pulls the heat out of the pot later, so it boils instead of frying.
3. Open the coconut milk without shaking the cans and spoon the thick cream from the top into a large pot. Reduce it over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes, until it splits and a clear layer of oil sits on top.
   Chef's tip Splitting drives off water until the emulsion breaks and pure coconut oil pools clear on top — that oil is the frying medium for the paste. If you shake the cans or add liquid too early, you never get it and the paste only stews.
4. Stir the curry paste into the separated oil and fry it, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes. It's ready when the color has darkened to a deep rust red, the oil has taken on its color, and the aroma of toasted spices rises up.
   Chef's tip Frying in the split oil cooks off the raw bite of shallot, garlic and shrimp paste and pulls fat-soluble aroma out of the turmeric and chilies. Keep it moving — the paste is low and dense and will catch on the pot base within seconds.
5. Add the chicken thighs to the pot and turn them in the fried paste for 3 minutes, until each thigh is coated in a thick layer of curry on all sides.
6. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the chicken stock, and add the fish sauce, palm sugar, and dark soy sauce. Bring the soup to a boil, stirring, for 4 minutes, until the palm sugar has fully dissolved and the soup is a uniform orange with no streaks of paste.
7. Turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. Let the soup simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the meat is tender and pulling back from the bone, and a distinct red film of oil sits on the surface. The chicken must be cooked through all the way to the bone — 75°C measured against the bone. ⏱ 30 min–40 min · passive
   Chef's tip A bare simmer with lazy bubbles at the edge keeps the coconut fat suspended and the thigh meat succulent; a rolling boil curdles the milk into grains and tightens the chicken. Thighs stay forgiving well past 75°C at the bone.
8. Set aside 100 g of the fresh egg noodles for deep-frying. Heat the neutral oil in a deep pot to 180°C — a small piece of noodle should sizzle up vigorously right away. Deep-fry the reserved noodles in two batches, until light golden and crisp, and lift them out with a slotted spoon onto paper towels. Stay by the pot while they fry, since fresh egg noodles go from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds. ⏱ 8 min–10 min
9. Take the frying pot off the heat and let the oil stop sizzling. Pour 2 tbsp of the hot oil over the chili flakes in a small bowl and stir until the flakes turn the oil deep red and smell toasted.
   Chef's tip Let the oil cool for a minute before it hits the flakes — straight from 180°C it scorches ground chili in seconds and turns it bitter and brown instead of red. You want a toasted, sweet smell, not an acrid one.
10. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the remaining fresh egg noodles until tender with a bite. Drain them in a colander and shake off the water thoroughly, so the soup doesn't get watered down in the bowl. ⏱ 10 min · passive
11. Cut the raw shallots into paper-thin rings and the lime into wedges. Roughly chop the fresh cilantro and cut the pickled mustard greens into strips. Divide each item into its own small bowl and set them out together with the chili oil.
12. Divide the drained noodles among four deep bowls and place a chicken thigh in each. Ladle the hot soup over, until the noodles are just covered, making sure to get some of the red oil from the surface. Place a tangle of crispy noodles on top of each bowl. Set the small bowls of mustard greens, shallots, lime wedges, cilantro, and chili oil on the table, so each diner finishes building their own bowl: a squeeze of lime and a spoonful of chili oil into the soup. The pickled mustard greens are eaten alongside as a tangy counterweight to the richness.