I spent six months living in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand and I can honestly say in that time I ate some of the best food of my life.
When I first got there I was drawn to western food places (and there are many) but once funds started running low, I had to eat Thai for breakfast, lunch and dinner - but I never looked back.
Without doubt my favourite dish was Khao Soi which I believe is from northern Thailand/Burma, I certainly didn't see it on the menu anywhere else in southern Thailand. It's a noodle soup dish but with coconut milk and fresh coriannder, which gives it much more flavour and freshness than any other noodle soup I've eaten.
If you ever find yourself in Chiang Mai then you must go to Aum on Th 66 Moon Muang (walk through Thae Pae Gate towards the posh hotel with the water feature and head left) which has the best Khao Soi I tasted (and I tasted a lot!). It was 60 baht (£1.20/less than $2) which was more than I liked to pay for dinner, but it was worth it.
I've been back in the UK for nearly six months now but I've only just dared to try making my own Khao Soi as I was so worried about it not tasting as good...but this weekend I've made it twice and both times it was pretty damn good! Here's my recipe for beautiful Khao Soi (although still not as beautiful as Aum, unfortunately).
Comfortably serves 2
10 big cubes of tofu (the pre-fried stuff you get in plastic bags in Asian supermarkets)
1 small potato
1 cup mushrooms
1 carrot
1 courgette (zucchini)
1/2 cup of small sweetcorn
2-6 dried red chillies (depending on how hot you like it)
1 tablespoon red curry paste*
2 teaspoons of curry powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
Just over half a can of coconut milk or more if you like it creamy
1-2 cups of water
400g of fresh egg noodles
Toppings:
A handful of crispy noodles (see recipe)
2 shallots
1 lime
A handful of coriander (cilantro)
1 sprig of spring onion
In Thailand it was always served with pickled mustard greens but I never liked these - try if you must!
1. Chop up the tofu and vegetables, ensure the potato is cut quite small so it will cook easily.
2. I find it's easier to prepare the toppings in advance and leave to one side. So, quarter the lime, roughly chop the coriander, peel and chop the shallots and cut the spring onion into strips. Then leave these in the middle of the table for later.
3. To make the crispy noodles, just put around an inch of sunflower oil into a wok and put on the hob until it's bubbling slightly. Grab a small handful of the fresh noodles and put them into the wok and stir with a wooden spoon. Once the noodles become stiff and slightly brown take them out and leave them on kitchen towel to drain.
4. Put the wok back on the heat with the sunflower oil residue in and put in the chopped vegetables, tofu and desired amount of dried red chillies in. Cook on high for about two minutes.
5. Then add the curry paste and curry powder and toss the vegetables around the wok so they're all coated. Add the light soy sauce while still stirring and then 30 seconds later add the dark soy sauce, still stirring.
6. Add the sugar and coconut milk and simmer for 2 minutes.
7. Pour in the water and bring back to simmer. Taste and add more chillies, sugar or soy sauce as desired. Leave simmering for 5 more minutes at the most.
8. Meanwhile, boil some water for the remaining noodles and once slowly bubbling plunge them in for 1-2 minutes and drain.
9. Put the noodles into the bottom of two deep bowls and then put the curry broth and vegetables on top. The broth should nearly cover the vegetables and definitely cover the noodles. Add the crispy noodles to the top.
10. Once at the table it can be enjoyed with sprinkles of coriander on top, a good squeeze of lime juice over the crispy noodles and some fresh shallots placed in the broth. Yum!
* If you really take Thai food seriously then make the curry paste from scratch, I'll put a veggie-friendly recipe in a future blog.
