One-Pot Wonders

Burmese Khow Suey

April 26, 2012
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 4 to 5
Author Notes

Khow suey is a burmese noodle dish served in a spicy , a little sweet and flavorful sauce made from coconut milk. We are very fond of Malaysian cuisine which also has coconut gravy or sauce. Not only malaysian cooking but also thai has the base in so many curries. Khow suey itself has so many variations. And, what I love about this dish is the flexibility with flavors. The flavors are amazing. And, it is a noodle dish. Another important factor is usually condiments are served on the side , so everyone can add them according their taste level. I had tasted this dish when we visited San Francisco lat year. There is a wonderful Burmese restaurant in downtown. Originally , it is made with chicken but I have substituted it with veggies. My husband thinks it tastes better with chicken , just because he is fussy about veggies and I don't eat chicken. There are lot of Indian versions also of this dish because it is believed that Indians brought this dish back to India during World War II. Especially it is very popular in southern India in which they make it with lentil based gravy. I had tried Khow Suey for the first time in India when our neighbor(Indian Sindhi Family ), who originally belonged to Singapore had shifted back to India had shared this dish with us. Khow Suey or Khao Soi as it is known as is a popular dish from Thailand, Northern part of Thailand known as Chiang Mai. The dish is simple to make , but has lot of components, so one needs to prepared to mess up a little bit. —Devangi Raval

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • The coconut sauce - curry
  • 1 cup Boneless chicken chopped or chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks) or veggies for vegetarians like me, veggies that I have used carrots sliced, broccoli, red pepper cut into long wedges, bakchoy chopped, and mushrooms I prefer shitake and button .and any o
  • 3 tablespoons Curry paste , recipe and ingredients listed below
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon Red chilli flakes
  • 2 tablespoons Garlic , chopped
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons Curry powder use more if you like spicy
  • a pinches turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons gram/chickpea flour to thicken the curry , if you do not want to use it is ok
  • 2 teaspoons Soy Sauce or Fish Sauce
  • 1/4 cup vegetable Stock or water
  • 1 tablespoon Palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 1 Packet of egg noodles, I prefer flat one but you can use whole wheat round noodles also, cooked al dente and drained and separated
  • 1/2 bowl of each condiment - pickled mustard greens (available at Asian supermarkets), chopped shallots, green part of ramps,spring onions, cilantro, lime wedges, chives, 1 or 2 halved boiled egg
  • 1 cup Crispy chow- mein noodles or deep fry the rice sticks noodles for garnish
  • 2 cups Coconut milk
  • Salt to taste
  • Red Curry paste- Homemade you can store this in freezer for later use also/ or use store bought red curry paste
  • 1 medium onions, chopped
  • bunch of ramps, white part chopped, use the green part for condiment ,if not using ramps substitute with 2 onions and some 2 to 3 shallots
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped, use some garlic scapes its spring
  • 2 tablespoons Ginger
  • 1/4 cup Spring Onions
  • 2 Kaffir leaves , dry or fresh whatever you have
  • 1 tablespoon lemon grass, chopped, optional if you cannot find it.
Directions
  1. First step is to boil the noodles with lots of salt, water and a tbsp of oil. As soon as the noodles are cooked, remove them in colander and run them under cold water. And, then separate them and use a little oil if you wish to keep them separated. Set it aside.
  2. Another step, make red curry paste - take all the ingredients of curry paste listed above and with the help of mortar and pestle or a food processor , crush everything and make a dry paste. You can also use store bought red curry paste. If you decide to make it at home , you can store the extra paste as this recipe will yield more paste then required.
  3. Stir- fry the veggies in little bit of oil , if you are making vegetarian version. If you are making it with chicken no need to follow this particular step. If you do not want to stir-fry veggies, you can also roast them by brushing them with oil and cooking them in per-heated oven for about 10 minutes or so. Do not by nay means make them mushy.Once done, keep it aside.
  4. Make Curry - Take a deep pot or pan on low heat and add oil to it. Let the oil heat up, then add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook it for few seconds. Please cook it on low heat or else the garlic will burn quickly. As soon as the garlic and chilli flakes are sauteed, add the already prepared red curry paste and mix it well with the help of a spatula.
  5. Once the curry paste is mixed up well, add the curry powder, turmeric powder and cook it for about 2 to 3 minutes and let the flavors mix with each other. Then add , the stir-fried vegetables or chopped chicken and mix well. Let it also cook for another minute or so.
  6. Meanwhile , mix chickpea flour to water / vegetable stock and blend it well. There should not be any lumps in it. Add it to the above veggies curry paste mix and mix it well. Slowly add the coconut milk also. Cook everything possibly on low heat because the coconut milk can curdle. So, please be careful.
  7. Add in the palm sugar, soy sauce and salt and mix it well. Cook it for few more minutes especially with chicken and once done, remove from the stove top. This is the veggie curry or chicken curry and base.
  8. To assemble the dish - First component - Boiled Noodles. Second important component - Coconut Veggie Curry. Third Component - Crispy Fried noodles Fourth component - Condiments with hot chili Oil Take boiled noodles in a soup bowl or deep bowl. Pour in the curry and top it off with the crispy chow-mein noodles and drizzle some hot chilli oil, and add a little of everything from the condiments and half egg and serve it hot.
  9. Flat egg noodles soak up the curry in better way compared to the round ones. Curry - You can add as much spice as you want or like. Crispy fried noodles - You can get store bought crispy noodles or fry your own or use crispy wonton. Condiments - Serve them on side in separate bowls, so everyone can add everything according to their liking.

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1 Review

susan G. April 26, 2012
I would love to learn more about Maylasian cooking. I expect to try this soon, and I've enjoyed what I've had in restaurants. Books? Blogs?