Curry Noodles with Chicken

Victory is mine! This is the first Thai dish I've made that Caleb has approved of. Since he's a huge connoisseur of Thai food, this is no small feat; there have been quite a few rejected Thai noodle dishes over the years. Finally, Simple Thai Food has succeeded where so many others have failed. Now the pressure is on for STF's pad Thai and pad see ew, but for the moment, let's talk about these curry noodles with chicken.

First, it must be said that this dish took me much longer than the promised "less than 30 minutes". Part of that time-discrepancy has to do with the fried shallots the recipe calls for, which are a "pantry staple" recipe and not included in the total time estimate. Similarly, this is kind of recipe that lists things like matchsticks of tofu, cilantro leaves, finely chopped preserved radish, finely chopped peanuts, and hard-boiled eggs without accounting for the time those things take to prep/cook. I took my time with this recipe because I didn't want to mess it up (especially after proceeding so carefully (I thought), yet still completely ruining the fried shallots). Plus, I did spend some "outside the recipe bounds" time slicing and sautéing some mushrooms to serve with the curry. I did use store-bought curry pastes, which saved at least 30 more minutes compared to making two separate (red and yellow) pastes. So, your mileage may vary depending on your additions and comfort level, but plan for these curry noodles with chicken to take somewhere between 30 minutes and my total time of 75 minutes.

I bought my curry pastes because I had to go to a specialty grocery store anyway for the preserved radish. Also, I haven't entirely gotten over my green curry paste disaster from a few years ago when I tried making Tom Kha from the Perfect Blend and the instructions didn't specify how to work with lemongrass. It was virtually inedible, and I ate that soup for a week. The good news for you is I can confirm this curry is absolutely delicious with store-bought curry paste. The red can be found in any supermarket, but yellow is a little tougher. I know my Whole Foods in NJ carried it but the one near me in SF doesn't.

Aside from the curry pastes, for this recipe you're also going to need a quality fish sauce, coconut milk, lime, peanuts (and/or peanut butter), chicken broth, chicken, mung bean sprouts, cilantro, preserved/salted radish, and of course, rice noodles. Those ingredients are pretty non-negotiable for the final flavor, but you could substitute radish matchsticks to approximate the sour crunch of the preserved radish, and the sprouts and/or cilantro can be omitted if you really dislike them. I like adding extra vegetables, and I think shredded cabbage, sliced red pepper, or broccoli florets would all work well. Top everything with a poached egg, and you have an immensely satisfying curry.

I've adapted the original recipe from Simple Thai Food a tiny bit, by adding a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter to each serving, which I think makes for a tremendous improvement. The curry itself is better after the flavors have had time to mix a little, which required about an hour in my experience. Therefore, if you have time, make the curry in advance and then simple cook the noodles while you gently reheat the curry.

Since rice noodles can absorb a phenomenal amount of liquid, it's best to store the leftover noodles and curry soup separately. They'll keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator.

Original source: Simple Thai Food

Curry Noodles With Chicken (Kuai-Tiao Kaeng Sai Kai)

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Course: Main

Cuisine: Thai

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1-½ pounds boneless chicken thighs great or breasts (okay)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ cup coconut cream from the top of a can of coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste store-bought or 3 tablespoons homemade
• 2 tablespoons “yellow” curry paste (kari) store-bought or homemade
• 2 tablespoons packed grated palm sugar or 1 ½ tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1-½ cups coconut milk
• 3 cups chicken stock sodium-free
• 6 ounces extra-firm tofu cut into matchsticks 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide and thick
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 8 ounces mung bean sprouts about 4 cups
• 8 ounces dried rice sticks 3 millimeters (about ⅛ inch) wide
• ¼ cup preserved radish finely chopped, optional
• ¼ cup fried shallots*
• ¼ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
• ⅓ cup finely chopped roasted peanuts
• 2 hard- or medium-boiled eggs peeled and halved lengthwise

For seasoning at table:

• 2 or 3 limes cut into wedges
• fish sauce
• chunky peanut butter
• finely chopped roasted peanuts
• baby spinach or other quick cooking julienned vegetables
• sugar
• red chile powder

Instructions

Chicken curry

• Cut the chicken against the grain and on the diagonal into thin, bite-size pieces. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• In a large (1-gallon) saucepan or wok, add the oil, coconut cream, and curry pastes. Stir over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat in the sauce, about one minute. Add the sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk, and stock, stir everything together and bring to a very gentle boil. This should take roughly 10 minutes. Once the chicken is fully cooked through, about 3 more minutes, stir in the sliced tofu and curry powder. Mixing well (but gently) to distribute the curry powder evenly. Lower the heat all the way to the lowest setting; keep the curry warm.

Noodles [to be prepared in tandem with the curry]

• Meanwhile, prepare the hard-boiled eggs and the fried shallots if you haven't already. Chop the preserved radish and roast then chop the peanuts. Prepare any desired vegetables.
  
• Take out 4 large individual serving bowls. Fill another large (1-gallon) saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Add the bean sprouts, stir, and then immediately remove them with a wire-mesh skimmer. Shake off any excess water, then divide the bean sprouts evenly among the bowls.
  
• Keeping the water boiling, add the dried noodles, stir to submerge, and cook until they have softened through, about 10-15 minutes (this will depend on brand/freshness). Taste a noodle strand a few minutes prior to when you think they should be done. Once cooked, drain the cooked noodles through a large colander placed in the sink. Run hot tap water over the cooked noodles to rinse off excess starchy liquid. Shake off the water and divide the noodles evenly amount the 4 bowls.

Assembly

• Immediately ladle the curry over the noodles, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle each serving with an equal amount of the radish, fried shallots, cilantro, and peanuts. Top each serving with an egg half. Serve immediately with the highly recommended table-side seasonings: limes, fish sauce, peanut butter, extra chopped peanuts, sugar, and red chile powder for adding as desired.