In two days time, my mom, B and I will be heading to to Asia for two weeks — a week in Bangkok and a week in Singapore. I am incredibly excited as I’ve not been back to Asia for nearly seven years and Asian food is all I grew up eating: Hainanese chicken rice after school, wonton noodle soup on the weekend, dim sum on Sundays with my parents. I live for rice and noodle dishes, but I don’t often cook Asian cuisine at home.
Even though I’m about to embark on a two week road trip of pure culinary delight in Asian cooking, I couldn’t resist making this Thai red curry noodle soup for dinner on Monday.
It’s comforting and fragrant with all combination of cilantro, basil and lime juice. As the queen of spicy food, I did add a bit more chilli to the recipe, but that is entirely optional.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 tablespoons red curry paste
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 litre of chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
4 ounces rice noodles
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3 green onions, thinly sliced
Chopped fresh coriander leaves
Chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Method
Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
Add garlic, bell pepper and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
Stir in red curry paste and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in chicken broth and coconut milk, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Stir in chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced, about 10 minutes.
Stir in rice noodles, fish sauce and brown sugar until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in green onions, cilantro, basil and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately.