Khao Soi Gai — Northern Thai Curry Noodles

Skim 150 ml of thick cream from the top of the coconut milk into a heavy pot and cook it over medium heat until the oil separates, 4–5 minutes. Add the paste and curry powder and fry for 3 minutes.

Put in the chicken and turn it in the paste for 2 minutes, then pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes until the meat is loose on the bone.

💡 Never let it boil hard. Khao soi broth should stay glossy and unified — once the coconut milk splits, the surface goes to oil slicks and grains.

Meanwhile heat the frying oil to 180°C. Loosen the 100 g of noodles into small nests and fry them for 40 seconds until they puff and turn pale gold. Drain on paper.

💡 They colour in seconds and go bitter almost immediately after. Pull them while they still look slightly underdone — carryover heat finishes them.

Season the broth with fish sauce, palm sugar and dark soy. Taste it — it should be savoury and mildly sweet with a slow curry warmth, not sharp.

Boil the remaining 400 g of noodles for 2 minutes, drain hard, and divide between four deep bowls.

Lay a chicken leg on each, ladle the broth over generously, then perch the fried noodle nest on top. Serve pickled greens, raw shallot and lime on a separate plate for everyone to add themselves.

💡 The fried noodles go on at the very last second. Thirty seconds in the broth and they are soft, and the whole contrast the dish is built on is gone.