Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

 

 Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Continuing my soup kick, I decided to make Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. I have been sick for, it feels like, the last two months. I did NOT get sick this many times last winter in San Francisco, but I did catch strep throat last year so I’ll do without that I suppose. I actually have made this soup one or two times before, and it’s good if you’re feeling for something light, yet filling. I also have a plethora of thai rice noodles that I need to get rid of, so that helped.

This soup ended up being more like a stew than soup, and I think I simmered too much liquid off, so I will tweak this to the best of my knowledge so that if you try this recipe, it won’t do the same for you.

I didn’t use a recipe for this soup, but used past knowledge of ingredients and just kind of did a melange of items. It was still yummy, and truly quite filling. Riley had two bowls, and that is beyond me how he managed that. I was satisfied after a healthy single bowl.

This recipe does call for some specialty ingredients, so I suggest making it on a day that you head to the store first.

**Just a quick note, lemongrass is in this recipe. Lemongrass can be consumed numerous ways, but I don’t mind eating it when I slice it thinly (with a very sharp knife) when it's in soup, because in this case, it softens enough so that you can eat it. It is quite firm, and very fragrant. You can use lemon juice as a substitute, but really there is no comparison. When you look for it in the store, look for firm stalks. Don’t buy a stalk if it’s brown on the outside- you want the bottom to look yellowish white, and the stalk itself to be a bright green. Sometimes you can find it in the freezer sections, if you can’t find it fresh. **

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
⅓ package thin rice noodles (you can find these in the Asian section of any grocery store)
1/2 large yellow onion
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 healthy teaspoon Red Curry Paste
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (I use my hands-it’s much easier than a fork)
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 stalk lemon grass, sliced 
2 large carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch coins
2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/4 inch coins
1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
8 stalks green onion, sliced
1/2 packet already cubed butternut squash (If you are feeling up to it, you can peel and cut a squash yourself, but I was feeling sickly and lazy)
The juice of 2 fresh limes
4 small dried Thai chilies, chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the yellow onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
2. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.

3. Add the garlic, red curry paste, carrots, celery, lemon grass, Thai chilies, green onion, butternut squash, and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Then bring it down to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add the and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the chicken and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice, salt, and pepper. Add more fish sauce, salt and pepper, and lime juice, if desired.