Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

An interesting fact I heard today - eating spicy food in hot weather helps cool you down...don't know how true that fact really is. On the bright side, I live in the Rocky Mountains so it's basically soup weather 12 months a year! This coconutty Thai/Burmese soup tastes like something you'd get at a restaurant. The key is using coconut cream as well as coconut milk - really kicks up the coconut flavour.

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Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Yield: 8-10 bowls

INGREDIENTS

For the Paste

• 2 tbs fresh ginger

• 6 cloves garlic

• 1 small white onion

• 1/2 cup cilantro stems

• 12-13 green onion stems

• 1 1/2 tbs laksa paste (sub shrimp paste)

For the Soup

• 3 tbs olive oil, divided

• 1 tbs ground turmeric

• 1/2 tsp ground black cardamom

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 1/2 lbs (about 6) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

• 1 can (400 ml) coconut milk

• 1 can (400 ml) coconut cream

• 5 cups water

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tbs coconut sugar (sub brown sugar)

• 2 tbs fish sauce

• 2 tbs rice vinegar

• 3 tbs soy sauce

• 1 lime leaf

For Topping

• 8-10 packs of ramen or rice noodle ramen, cooked according to package directions

• Boiled eggs

• Fresh cilantro

• Fresh limes/lemon slices

• Peanuts

• Sriracha

DIRECTIONS

1. Start with the paste. Add all of the ingredients for the paste to a food processor. Process till you have a nice thick paste, not too chunky.

2. Make the soup. Heat up a large soup pot over medium low. Once hot, add 2 tbs of olive oil and the paste. Sauté, stirring often, for 7-10 minutes, until the paste darkens in colour.

3. Make a well in the paste and add the remaining oil, the turmeric, black cardamom, coriander, and chicken, and turn the heat up to medium. Sauté, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is sealed.

4. Add the coconut milk, coconut cream, water, salt, coconut sugar, fish sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and lime leaf. Stir and bring the soup up to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and allow the soup to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

5. To serve the soup, divide the ramen noodles into bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles. Top the soup with the remaining toppings at the table.

NOTES

• I made a vegetarian version of this soup for my brother using paneer instead of chicken. Just as good!!