Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Recently, Thai red curry is a flavor we can all agree on and all enjoy.  I'll post soon the revised red curry stir fry that's in regular rotation, but this soup is something a little different.  I only have a mini chopper, not a full food processor and can just barely fit it all in there to make the paste that becomes the soup base.  Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients - I bought some of these pastes at a grocery store (Stater Bros) and made 3-4 batches of soup with them but you could chop your own ginger, cilantro and lemongrass and add it to your food processor.  

The amount of heat is determined by the chilis in the garnish more than the red chile paste or red curry paste and we liberally add Sriracha at the table.  If you're gluten free, just use a GF soy sauce alternative.

Word of warning:  You'll wish you had made a double batch!

Ingredients:

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 T fresh ginger (or ginger paste)

1 T lemongrass paste

2 T red curry paste

2 T fresh cilantro (or 1 T cilantro paste)

1 T red Chile paste (or 2 red chiles, chopped)

2 T coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

1 lime, zested and juiced

1 T soy sauce

4 cups chicken stock or broth

1 can coconut milk

2 cups shredded chicken

7 oz rice noodles

For garnish:

4-5 green onions, thinly sliced (both white and green parts)

1 green chili (sliced, seeds removed)

1 red chili (sliced, seeds removed)

Chopped cilantro

Combine garlic, onion, red pepper, ginger paste, lemongrass paste, red curry paste, cilantro (or paste), and coconut oil in a food processor and process until a paste forms.

While you are making your paste, start boiling water for the rice noodles.

Add paste to a medium pot and fry it for a couple of minutes, just until fragrant.

Add chicken stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes.  While soup is simmering, cook noodles according to package directions and drain.

Add shredded chicken.  Add soy sauce, lime juice and zest, and rice noodles to the soup.  Top with garnishes and serve.

Basil Chicken

Summer is flying by!  I can't believe the 4th of July is behind us.  We're taking our big family vacation soon so the blog might be a little quiet (I know I haven't been doing great updating recently anyways) but I hope you and yours are enjoying the warm summer weeks as much as we are!

Here are a few pictures of the girls and some of our fun summer memories so far:

Meeting my new nephew!

A trip to WA to see my BFF and a visit to the Children's Museum in Olympia

Then, a drive to Eugene to see my sister receive her PhD.

Celebrating our little sister's accomplishment!

World of Color with friends

Date night with family at the Hollywood Bowl

Swimming with cousins

4th of July Freedom 5000 in Claremont

Baby girl started walking!  She seems so big all of a sudden.

A few of the recipes I've made recently have been inspired by what's growing in our garden.  The basil and jalapeños in this recipe were garden fresh and we all liked this a lot.  My husband and I (as usual) wanted a little more heat so I probably would use more jalapeño next time but it was nothing a little Sriracha couldn't solve.  The texture went from runny to very thick quickly so keep your eye on it when you mix in the cornstarch & coconut mixture.  

Basil Chicken in Coconut Sauce (4 servings)
from Baked Bree

1 pound chicken breast, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 T olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1-2 jalapeños seeded and chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14oz) can coconut milk
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 T fresh basil, plus more for serving
1 T fresh ginger, grated
cooked rice for serving

In a small bowl, combine the spices.  Add the chicken pieces and the spices to a large ziplock bag and toss / massage so that the spices cover all of the chicken.  You can let it sit at  room temperature for 30 minutes or do this ahead (I did it in the morning) and let it sit in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook.

Dice the onion, garlic & jalapeños.  Grate the ginger and set aside.  Cook the onions, jalapeño and garlic in a large sauté pan with the olive oil for about 2 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.  Transfer the mixture to a plate.  Add more olive oil if needed to just coat the pan and cook the chicken until brown on both sides.  If your pan isn't big enough, you can do this in two batches.  Take out of the pan add to the vegetables.  Mix the coconut milk and the cornstarch together.  Add to the pan and cook until it just starts to thicken.  It should come to a bubble but not boil vigorously.

Add the chicken and vegetables back to the pan, adding the ginger and basil.  Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rice and additional basil.

Red Curry Noodle Soup

We've had a couple of busy & rough weeks in our family - illness, funeral, dental procedures, ER visit - stuff that inevitably happens in family life but definitely not the fun stuff.  I am pleased to report that we're all on the mend and I'm hoping the end of the week is brighter than the start!

After my husband and daughter were feeling better from the flu, I wanted to make some soup for supper because it sounded comforting.  This isn't too spicy and with a broth & coconut milk base, is pretty easy on the belly.  It can easily be gluten free if you use a gf soy sauce (the Thai Kitchen curry pastes and others I've looked at are gluten free).  Baby girl loved the plain rice noodles!  I had the thicker pad thai kind (more like fettuccine) but the thin rice stick would work well too.  I want to try it with Thai basil in addition to the cilantro for garnishing at the end.

Red Curry Noodle Soup (4 servings)
adapted from Considering the Campbells

4 oz rice noodles (I used pad thai noodles)
1 T olive oil
2-3 T red curry paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small jalapeño or other pepper, minced (optional)
2 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1.5 c. sliced carrot (I bought a bag of shredded carrots)
1 can lite coconut milk
1 red bell pepper, sliced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
a bunch of cilantro, chopped


Cook the rice noodles according to the package but don't overcook - al dente is good.

Heat the olive oil and curry paste in a large pan and stir it together until it's bubbly.  Add the garlic and jalapeño, sauté a little bit, and then stir in the chicken broth and carrots.  Bring to a boil and boil for about a minute.  Add the red bell pepper, green onions, and the can of coconut milk.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and add the soy sauce and lime juice.

Put the noodles in a bowl and ladle the soup on top.  Garnish with cilantro.

Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry

After determining that stir fry is one thing my girls like to eat for dinner, I've been trying out some new variations.  I love coconut curry and was tempted to put some green curry paste in this dish but I didn't want to push the envelope with them too much.  We have two kinds of basil growing in our garden - the larger leaf, sweeter Italian basil and the narrower leaf, cinnamony Thai basil which was perfect here.  You can thinly slice, roughly chop or leave the basil leaves whole (I did the latter), depending on your preference.  I also chopped the Serrano chiles in larger pieces so I could pick them out of the girls' portions.

Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry (2-3 servings)

1/2 cup coconut milk (not lite)
2 T soy sauce
1.5 T rice wine vinegar
1 T lime juice
3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 T olive oil
2 serrano chiles, diced (or Thai chiles if you can find them)
1 large shallot, sliced (or 1/2 cup chopped white onion)
2 T fresh ginger root, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into half inch chunks
3 green onions, chopped
1-2 cups fresh basil leaves (Thai basil if possible)

Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.

In a skillet or wok, heat oil over medium high heat.  Stir in the chiles, shallot, ginger, and garlic and cook until lightly browned.  Mix in chicken strips and cook about 3 minutes or until browned.  Stir in the coconut milk sauce.  Continue cooking until the sauce is reduced and thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the green onions and basil.  Serve over hot cooked rice.

With 1/2 cup of jasmine rice:  506 cal/serving (36 g protein)

Thai Red Curry Soup

One of my favorite flavor combinations is coconut and curry. Recently, I was thinking about the red curry from Saladang in Pasadena and I went searching online for some similar recipe to make. The hardest part about making this soup was finding the red curry paste - my third stop at Whole Foods finally resulted in success. The rest of it is pretty normal stuff. While it was cooking, I kept thinking it smelled fishy and thought it was the fish sauce (only 1 tablespoon) but then I remembered that I had fish sticks in the oven for my daughter to eat. If you're averse to using fish sauce, substitute soy sauce.

The soup was rich and flavorful but a little heavy. I think light coconut milk (or less coconut milk) would make it not seem so heavy. The eggplant was my favorite part of it - delicious - and I picked the chicken out of the leftover soup for lunch the next day and it tasted really good.

A couple of cooking notes: I served it over bean thread (thin translucent "noodles" made from mung beans) that I bought awhile ago at Cost Plus World Market but you can serve it plain like the recipe calls for, over hot cooked rice, or rice noodles instead. The base is really versatile so I think substituting or adding vegetables would be fine with this recipe. Red curry paste varies in intensity and spiciness. I started with 1 tablespoon and by the end, had added some red chili flakes and about 2 more tablespoons of the curry paste. Green curry paste would give a different flavor but would probably be great in this soup.

Thai Red Curry Soup with Chicken serves 4
(adapted from Bon Appetit 9/97)

2 T vegetable oil
1-3 T Thai red curry paste (see note above)
1/2 onion, sliced (I used 1 shallot)
12 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
4 oz. green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 small Japanese eggplants, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 c. low-sodium chicken broth
3 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 T fish sauce (nam pla)
1 cup chopped bok choy
1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oill in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft (2-3 minutes). Add curry paste and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken; stir 2 minutes. Add green beans and eggplant pieces; stir 1 minutes. Add broth, coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. During the last five minutes, stir in the bok choy.

Taste and season with salt, pepper, red chili flakes and more curry paste, if desired. Sprinkle with basil and serve over noodles, rice or bean thread (or plain).

Sonia's Stir-Fry

Up next: My sister-in-law Sonia. I learned a lot about food and yeast when she was doing the Candida diet this past year - and a lot about perseverance! We share a love of cooking and I'm excited to try this - the combination of coconut milk and red curry sounds great.

Don’t be alarmed that one would follow a recipe for a meal as simple as a stir-fry. When I was on the Candida cleanse diet (for 7 long months) we all got really tired of rice, veggies, and meat “for meat” each night. But you might be surprised at all of the different ways to approach a stir-fry. I was inspired by Food and Wine’s May 2009 issue that presented a variety ways to cook veggies and meat in a fry pan prior to tossing it onto a plate full of white or brown rice. The following is a great stir-fry recipe that compliments a Candida cleanse diet (God forbid any of Bec’s foodie readers ever have to do that) and it proves that you do not have to have sugar or gluten or yeast or broth or mushrooms to enjoy a tasty stir-fry.

Thai Chicken, Zucchini and Tomato Curry Stir-Fry 4 servings

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ¼ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts sliced ½ inch thick
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion sliced ¼ inch thick
2 zucchini cut into 2 by ½ inch sticks
1 ½ cups of cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk (I ended up using about 1 tablespoon more, and the real stuff is better than the LIGHT)
2 tablespoon water
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ cup chopped cilantro
rice for serving
optional garnish: cashew pieces

1. In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until just white throughout, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

2. Add the remaining oil to the skillet. Add the onion and stir-fry over moderately high heat for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and cherry tomatoes and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, coconut milk, water, lime zest and lime juice and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and stir for another minute or two. Sir in the cilantro. Transfer to bowls and serve with rice.
WINE: Strawberry-scented rose: 2008 Domaine du Bagnol. Or in our household, a chilled glass of white Charles Shaw does the job.

Don’t be scared off by the curry either… it is mild enough for those who can’t handle spicy food (however, I make it spicier). I like to add cashew pieces for garnish (they also sweeten it a little). And because you don’t use soy sauce, this recipe is also low in sodium. My husband douses his with table salt (I try not to be offended).

Green Coconut Curry with Scallops

You know that I love coconut milk and here's another type of coconut recipe - a Thai curry. I've made this probably 5 or 6 times for company this last year and it turns out great every time. The recipe comes together quickly in one pan and I serve it over jasmine rice (tonight, brown jasmine rice). I'll add a couple of photos soon but the header above this post is a picture of the ingredients (minus the scallops). Hope your company likes it as much as mine did!

Green Coconut Curry with Scallops (2 servings)

12 ounces sea scallops
3/4 c. canned unsweetened coconut milk
1-2 tsp. Thai green curry paste (depending on how spicy you want to make it)
1/2 red bell pepper cut into 2 inch strips
Garlic clove
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger
1 T fresh lime juice
1 T soy sauce (or fish sauce)
1/4 c. thinly sliced green onions
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
Hot cooked jasmine rice

Saute bell pepper, ginger, garlic and green curry paste for 3 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and bring it to a boil. Add the scallops, lower the heat a little, and cook until just opaque (time will depend on how large the scallops are). Remove from the heat and add the lime juice, soy sauce, green onions and half of the cilantro. Put the rice in 2 bowls, place scallops on top and divide the sauce in half in each bowl. Sprinkle with the rest of the cilantro.

I think basil might be good instead of the cilantro and if you want it spicier, add some minced jalapeno when you saute the bell pepper, ginger and garlic.