Khao Poon Nam Gai | Lao Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
Khao poon is a Lao noodle dish you will find at a lot of Lao community gatherings. It is filled with flavor from the red curry, fish sauce, and fresh herbs. The vermicelli noodles soak up the broth so every bite will be delicious. Usually, it is eaten with cooked pork blood cubes, a squeeze of lime, and lots of herbs.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 8 cups (64oz) water
- 1 rhizome root
- 1 tied pandan leave
- 6 makrut lime leaves
- 2 lemongrass stalk
- 2 quarter inch slices of ginger
- 2.5 lb chicken drumsticks
- 1 lb chicken feet, declaw
- ½ lb pork blood, cut into ½” cubes
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup shallots, minced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 oz red curry paste
- 1 tbsp Korean red pepper powder
- 1 14 oz coconut milk
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 2 tbsp padaek unfiltered fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp msg
- 1lb vermicelli noodle
- Banana blossom, thinly sliced
- Dried chili pepper
- Purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- Long bean, diced
- Mustard greens, diced
- Cilantro, diced
- Bean sprout
- Lime
Instructions
- 1
In a large soup pot, bring water to a boil
- 2
Bruise the rhizome root, pandan leaves, lime leaves, lemongrass, and ginger and put it into the boiling water
- 3
Declaw the chicken feet then add the feet and chicken drumsticks to the broth and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on low
- 4
Strain the broth from the solids and let the chicken meat cool off to the side
- 5
Take the chicken meat off the bones and put it in a mortar and pestle and crush and put to the side
- 6
In a separate pot, boil water with lemongrass and pork blood for 15 minutes then strain and put to the side
- 7
In a saucepan, heat oil then add minced shallots and garlic for 30 seconds then add red curry and pepper powder and saute on low for another 6-8 minutes.
- 8
Add the can of coconut milk and mix and cook on low simmer for 6-8 minutes until the coconut fat separates then add the chicken broth and mix
- 9
Add the shrimp paste, fish sauce, padaek, sugar, and msg and mix and low simmer for 2 mins
- 10
Add the pounded chicken, broth aromatics, and chicken feet back in and mix.
- 11
Mix and simmer on low with a lid for 15 minutes
- 12
Pour the boiled pork blood into the broth
- 13
Boil a pot of water then add noodles and cook for 5-6 mins occasionally stirring
- 14
Strain the noodles, and then rinse under cool water until room temperature.
- 15
Place the cooled down noodle in cold water and separate the noodles with a strand gathering technique
- 16
Let the noodles sit for 10 minutes.
- 17
Prepare the banana blossom: Remove 4 layers of the blossom then wash. Cut in half and thinly dice the top to the bottom. Place the diced pieces in a large bowl with cool water and a squeeze of whole lime
- 18
In a large bowl, add the noodles and ladle broth.
- 19
Add the garnishes: banana blossom, chili pepper, cabbage, long bean, mustard greens, green onion, cilantro, bean sprout, and lime.