Spicy Coconut Chicken & Rice Noodles Soup (Kao Soi)

I am once again adapting the recipe because as always, I don't have all the ingredients so I just improvise here and there by changing the veggies and skipping some of the steps so I can make my own. The recipe calls for bean sprouts and snow peas. I only have baby bok choy and beans sprouts. I also decided to throw in some shaved carrots. Instead of adding the lime juice to the sauce, I decided to serve the lime wedges on the side so we can customize the sour element to our taste. Instead of just soaking the noodles in water then just topping it with the sauce, I decided to soak the noodles for half the only 15 minutes and add it in the sauce so it can drink all the spicy goodness of the coconut curry. If I were to make this again, I will probably reserve half of the liquid before adding the noodles into the pot so it's soupy and not as thick.

Here's the recipe. It should be enough for 2 very hungry people to 4 people on a diet.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 fat lemongrass stalk, trimmed, pounded and tied in a neat bundle or cut in 4 pieces

1 1/2 tbsp red Thai curry paste (I like Maesri)

1 tbsp Madras curry powder or any Indian curry powder

2 tbsp palm sugar or good old plain brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 can thick coconut milk (450 ml)

2 cups low sodium chicken stock (or water plus 1/2 chicken bouillon)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 lime cut into wedges for serving

225g or 4 ounces of dried narrow flat rice noodles (similar to what you'll use for Pad Thai)

2 cups bean sprouts

6 small baby bok choy, washed and trimmed

2 small or 1 medium carrot, peeled and shaved into thin ribbon-like strands

1 boneless and skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced

6 sprigs of fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and stir-fry the garlic, shallot and lemongrass until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the curry paste and powder and continue to stir-fry for 1 more minute. Add the palm sugar or brown sugar and fish sauce, and continue to stir-fry until caramelized about 2 minutes.

Add the coconut milk and chicken stock, stir to completely incorporate. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste or more fish sauce. Bring to a boil for minutes and reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld. Bring to a gentle boil then add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until fully cooked.

Soak the noodles in hot water for 15 minutes, rinse with warm water and add into the pot and cook for 5 minutes then add the bok choy and cook for 2 minutes. The bok choy should be able to keep its vivrant green colour and the stem should keep a little bit of crunch.

Serve in warmed bowls topped with bean sprouts, shaved carrots, lime wedges and garnish with cilantro sprigs. I put my carrots and bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl so when I ladle the noodle soup, they wilted a little bit but kept their crunch.