Khao Soi is burmese curry noodle soup that has variations in northern Laos, northern thailand and Vietnam. DH & DD8 went to asia on a 6 week trip this summer and one of the things they did was a cooking class in chiang mai where the highlight was Khao Soi.

This link below seems to have some background.
http://www.thailand-travelonline.com/thailand-destinations/northern-thailand-information/the-multicultural-path-of-khao-soi-northern-thai-noodle-curry/843/

Here is the recipe from the cooking school recipe booklet from Chiang Mai:

Khao soy gai (Noodles with chicken curry)
Ingredients:
1.Egg noodle (other kinds of noodle can be used)
2.Chicken (pork, beef and meat balls can be used)
3.1 tablespoon of red curry paste
4.1/2 cup of coconut milk
5.1 cup of chicken stock
6.1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
7.1 tablespoon curry powder
8.1 pinch of turmeric powder
9.2 tablespoons of fish sauce
10.1 teaspoon lime juice
How to make khao soy
1.Put egg noodle in boiling water until it is soft and strain it.
2.To make the curry, put the coconut milk into a medium sized saucepan on medium-high heat before adding the red curry paste. Stir it until it simmers.
3.Add remaining ingredients except chicken.
4.Wait for a minute before adding chicken and cook until the chicken is well done.
5.Pour the curry on the noodles and add what extra condiments you desire.

If you feel like making curry paste at home. I can post my recipe. It is kind of like pesto and freezes well. I make in bulk and breeze in ice cube trays to use as needed. Red, Green etc. are minor variations and if you set up to do one, you can do all and freeze for later.

Oh, this sounds lovely - I will have to try it! One of our friends is having to restrict herself to soup this weekend and this would be a perfect thing to bring to her. Thanks for posting it.

I'd love a recipe for homemade curry paste! I am hoping to try this recipe this weekend. I might try it with my leftover Christmas goose.

Ummmmmm

Hi Mabel,

THAI CURRY PASTE BASIC RECIPE
Thai curry paste calls for uncommon fresh ingredients like galangal, Keffir lime leaves and kefir lime peel, galangal, lemon grass and cilantro roots. You can find these ingredients in an Asian store. Many of these ingretients have a sturdy, fibrous texture that is difficult to chew. Most thai dishes have these in big chunks to infuse the dish with flavor and fragrance but they are not eaten. In a curry paste, they are ground beyond recognition. You will need a sturdy blender or a use an granite mortor and pestle that will pound it into a soft paste. If you use a blender and use a bit of water, the paste will be more moist and water will separate. Just give it all a good sir before you use it. If you make curry paste at home, you will benefit from the fact that it will so much better than what you get in the store. I usually work with a friend to make several kinds in a couple of hours. We multiply the recipe by several times and we split the goodies. They freeze beautifully in icecube trays or on a parchment lined cookie sheet (I spoon them out like cookies). Easily lasts us for several meals. Thai curry is essentially like a thick pesto paste that is diluted with coconut milk to make the curry sauce that you can cook chicken, beef, veggies or tofu in. The difference in red, green or yellow is basically just the type of chilli and inclusion/ exclusion of some spices.

RED CURRY PASTE
20 dried finger length red chilies such as Chiles de arbol
1TB whole coriander seeds
1Tsp whole cumin seeds
10 White or Black peppercorns or 1tsp freshly ground pepper
3 stalks lemongrass
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro roots, or leaves and stems
1/4 cup coarsely chopped shallots
2 TBS coarsely chopped garlic (8-12 cloves)
1 TB coarsely chopped fresh galangal (fresh ginger is a substitute.. it will taste different than galangal but nice)
1 Tsp finely minced fresh kefir lime peel or domestic lime peel
1tsp salt

1. Stem the chilli, shake out most of the seeds, break into big pieces. Place in a small bowl and cover with warm water and set aside for at least 20 mins
2. In a small skillet, dry roast coriander seeds until they darken a shade or two, shaking the pan and stirring often, 2 to 5 mins. Tip onto a saucer. Toast the cumin seeds the same way until they are fragrant and tip out to the saucer. Toast the peppercorns until they are fragrant and add to the saucer. Grind all the three spices to a fine powder.
3. To prepare lemongrass, trim and discard any root section below the bulb base, and cut away the top portion leaving a stalk about 6 inches long. Remove any dried, wilted and yellowed leaves. Finely chop the stalk.
4. Drain the chilies (reserve the water). Combine with lemon grass, the ground toasted spices, and the remaining ingredients in a blendar or a mini food processor to a fairly smooth paste. Scrape sides often and if needed add some of the reserved water by tablespoons.
5. Transfer to a jar and store in refrigerator or freeze in small icecube trays or in small spoonfuls on a parchment. Transfer to a freezer bag when frozen.
6. Makes about 1 cup

GREEN CURRY PASTE

This is named for the vibrant fresh green chiles that are used instead of red chilies. To have a greener looking paste, add in some additional cilantro.

10 thai chilies (small pointy emerald colored chilies called prik kii-noo). Substitute with 5 serrano and 4 fresh jalapenos.
1 TBS Whole coriander seeds
1 TSP Whole cumin seeds
5 white or black peppercorns or � tsp fresh ground pepper
3 stalks lemon grass.
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro roots, leaves, stems. ( add more for brighter green color)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped shallots
2 TBS coarsely chopped garlic (8-12 cloves)
1 TB coarsely chopped fresh galangal (fresh ginger is a substitute.. it will taste different than galangal but nice)
1 Tsp finely minced fresh kefir lime peel or domestic lime peel
1tsp salt

1. Stem and chop chilies coarsely. Prepare rest same as red curry

YELLOW CURRY PASTE

This is milder and gets it�s color from use of curry powder and turmeric.

20 dried finger length red chilies such as Chiles de arbol
1 TBS Whole coriander seeds
1 TSP Whole cumin seeds
10 white or black peppercorns or 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 stalks lemon grass.
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro roots, leaves, stems. ( add more for brighter green color)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped shallots
2 TBS coarsely chopped garlic (8-12 cloves)
1 TB coarsely chopped fresh galanga (fresh ginger is a substitute.. it will taste different than galangal but nice)
1 Tsp finely minced fresh kefir lime peel or domestic lime peel
1TBS Curry powder
1 Tsp ground turmeric.
1tsp salt

1. Stem the chilli, shake out most of the seeds, break into big pieces. Place in a small bowl and cover with warm water and set aside for at least 20 mins. Prepare same as red curry.

Note: Any remaining keffir lime leaves, galangal, etc. can be frozen and just use in recipes when called for.

HOW TO MAKE CURRY
1 can coconut milk
1 to 2 TBS curry paste of your choice (red, green or yellow)
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 TBS thai palm sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp thai soy sauce (thicker like a balsamic reduction. Can substitute with regular soy sauce)
1/2 tsp thai shrimp paste (I usually skip this as my family eats vegetarian)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of Chunky cut vegetables ( bamboo shoots, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, eggplant etc.)
1 cup of protein (chicken, beef, tofu)

1. Shake coconut can well, open and spoon out 1/3 to a saucepan. Cook stirring occasionally until it thickens and releases its sweet fragrance (around 3 mins)
2. Add curry paste and cook 3 more mins, mashing scrapping and stirring often to soften the paste and combine with coconut milk
3. Add the remaining coconut milk, the protein, the vegetable stock, the shrimp paste, the soy sauce, sugar and salt and stir well. Cook 15 mins or so until the vegetable is tender and the protein is cooked and the curry has thickened a bit.
4. Add the vegetables and cook a few minutes longer until the vegetables are cooked but still somewhat crisp. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 mins.
5. Serve warm with jasmine rice.

I am totally going to try this as soon as I can plan a Friday trip to the Asian grocery in Portland. Thanks so much for sharing this!

I brought home a good cookbook from Thailand and enjoyed making my own curry pastes (and of course the yummy recipes I use them for). But I have to tell you, the ones you can buy in the little cans at Asian markets are excellent. They make every flavor and color I have needed. I use what I need and freeze the rest in tablespoon-sized lumps (freeze in an ice cube tray, then pop out the cubes and store them in a zip top bag in the freezer; I do this with lemon and lime juice, tomato paste, etc., too). So although I enjoyed the adventure of doing it myself, now I just use the canned pastes. The results are great; I doubt I could tell the difference.

This sounds really good! I haven't used egg noodles in Thai cooking. Time to try it.

Which brand of ready made curry paste do you use? I tried something a few years ago (granted I bought it at Safeway where there was not much choice) but it was quite awful.

I also use the ready-made curry pastes. I've made my own, but IMO it's not worth the time and effort. The ready-made pastes are as good as gellchom says.

I look for Mae Ploy which has always been reliable for me, but there are other brands which I don't know as well. I get mine in Asian groceries, not the neighborhood supermarket. There are several varieties - red, green, yellow, Massaman. While you're there, pick up Chaokoh coconut milk, palm sugar and fish sauce (I like 3 Crabs).

Cheryl

I will definitely look for the curry pastes, but will try making at least one just for the experience. I just bought a big bottle of fish sauce, Golden Boy brand, at a natural food store. I hope its good!

I think golden boy is supposed to be good. I bought it based on reviews on chowhound but it is also featured in other reviews

Here is a link that might be useful: review of fish sauce

Lolo, thanks for that link, it looks like a really interesting blog!

There's an Asian grocery store very near where my niece lives. I've been there once, and felt like I needed a guide. (I wonder if there is such a thing.) This thread helps me at least know of a few things to look for next time I go there.

Sally

There is a huge Asian store in Minneapolis called the United Noodle company. They have multiple brands of all the products. They must have 100 kinds of soy sauce and 200 types of rice noodles. Whenever I go there I will ask one of the staff which product they recommend. Or sometimes I just ask another customer. Once I went there to get Kaffir lime leaves for the Tom Yum I was making. I ended up talking to an elderly woman for about an hour.

I too find the little cans of curry pastes to be exceptional.

Sally, there are some useful guides which might be useful to you. One is The Asian Grocery Store Demystified (see link below).

There are two guides written by Bruce Cost. One is Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients: Buying and Cooking the Staple Foods of China, Japan and Southwest Asia, the second is Asian Ingredients: A Guide to the Foodstuffs of China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. I have the first book, as well as the Asian Grocery store (and The Indian Grocery Store Demystified).

If you check any of these on Amazon, you can find used copies at pretty low prices. None of these is complete, but there are drawings and photos of various vegetables, and sometimes suggestions for how to use them.

I've gone grocery shopping with people who were completely stymied by the unfamiliar items. You start with a few simple things they might recognize - bamboo shoots or one of the various kinds of bok choy, or rice wine. Once they learn how to use them, they go back. We all have to start somewhere.

Cheryl

Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Grocery Store Demystified

I have learned a lot in this thread. Freezing rain nixed my trip to the big city yesterday for the Asian grocery, but I'm hoping next week I can make it, so this is just in time.

Thanks, Cheryl! Silly me was thinking in terms of a human being taking me on a tour of the store, but your suggestion is better. I'll look for those books.

Sally

Sally - you're welcome. A human would be far better, but if one doesn't show up, take a book. Some of the shoppers in the store may be helpful too. I never did get anyone to explain some of the unusual herbs in one shop I used to visit, so those are still a mystery to me.

Cheryl

Sally, we bought "The Asian Grocery Store Demystified" as mentioned by Cheryl/Jadeite, it's helpful.

In the Asian grocery we go to, no one speaks English very well, so we've asked question of both staff and other customers but with little luck.

Cheryl, many things are still a mystery to me too, I try to buy one thing I have no experience with and try it. I found that I love dragon fruit but jackfruit made me gag it was so bad, LOL.

GWlolo, thanks for those recipes. I'm 50 miles from the nearest Asian grocery and that's not the good one. Understand, I'm a wuss, but Elery loves the hot curries and chili pastes.

Annie

I still haven't made it to an Asian grocer, but I took a stab at Khao Soi tonight. I had a great chat with a friend from work who told me about his experience in Thailand and eating many versions of Khao Soi, and he encouraged me to make it without the pickled mustard, so I did.

I used mostly GWLolo's recipe but added some extra veggies and suggestions from my friend for fried shallots as a garnish. It was not exactly what I remembered but it was pretty tasty. I will be trying this again!

This post was edited by mabeldingeldine on Wed, Feb 27, 13 at 7:12

Oh my! That looks so yum! What other veggies did you add?

Thai is my favorite cuisine and I have struggled for years to replicate some of my favorite dishes and even took a class from Tommy Tang in LA (before he was Tommy Tang), I appreciate the sharing of experience and will save this thread.

Yum - I want to come for dinner! I took my sawdust stuffed head to a very spicy thai dinner last night.

I must say the fried shallots were wonderful and really added to the dish. I used French Gray shallots from my garden. I also added cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and frozen snap peas. I didn't have any limes, but the cilantro was very fresh and in all it was a success. I will definitely make this again and again.