🇱🇦 Lao People's Democratic Republic · Laos
Khao poonLao coconut noodle soup
A Lao soup of rice vermicelli in a spicy broth with chicken, pork or fish, lemongrass and fish sauce, served with fresh herbs, cabbage and lime at weddings and festivals; the common red-curry form is made with coconut milk, while the northern Lao form omits it.
Origin and history
Khao poon is a Lao rice noodle soup, called the national dish of Laos by one Lao recipe page, and a brothy curried noodle soup almost always offered at Lao and Hmong celebrations. Its form varies by region: in northern Laos it is traditionally made without coconut milk.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 15 min
- Hands-on
- 35 min
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in chicken thighs
- 2.8 L12 cups water
- 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
- 10 kaffir lime leaves
- 8 slices ginger
- 2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 tbsp red curry paste
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 4 tbsp minced shallots
- 350 ml1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 250 g9 oz rice vermicelli (dried), or fresh khao poon noodles
- 225 g1/2 lb green or red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 bunches mint, picked
- 2 limes, in wedges
Method
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1. Put the chicken, water, lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves in a large pot and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes, then stir in the fish sauce.
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2. In a second pot, warm the oil over medium-low heat and stir the curry paste until fragrant.
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3. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until soft and translucent.
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4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles.
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5. Stir the coconut milk into the curry base, then add the chicken stock a cup at a time until the soup tastes as strong and spicy as you like.
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6. Lift the chicken out, pound it in a mortar until nearly a paste (or shred it finely by hand), and stir it into the soup.
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7. Boil the vermicelli 5 to 8 minutes, drain, rinse in cold water and portion into bowls.
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8. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles and top with cabbage, mint and a squeeze of lime.
Notes
- This is the red-curry and coconut version of khao poon nam gai common at Lao and Hmong celebrations. The pounded chicken thickens the broth.
- The northern Lao version in the Boat Landing cookbook is different: no coconut milk, a broth of pork bones and fish, minced pork, blood cake and padek, with a pounded paste of galangal, garlic, onion, shallot and chilli powder, and a platter of shredded banana flower, papaya, bean sprouts and herbs at the table.
- Add more broth for a thinner soup. Fresh khao poon noodles are traditional; dried vermicelli is the usual substitute outside Laos.
- Make-ahead: the broth and curry base keep for 2 days; cook the noodles fresh.
Adapted from Saeng's Kitchen, Khao Poon Nam Gai (via North Coast Journal) and Food from Northern Laos (The Boat Landing Cookbook), via Pha Khao Lao.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.