Khaukswe Hin (Burmese Coconut Chicken and Noodles)

After the great success of the liver curry, I decided to try out another pick from the One-Pot Meals of Asia cookbook. This one came out looking a bit grey and unappealing, but it tasted delicious! I think I'd make a few tweaks next time, but nothing major.

Khaukswe Hin

Slightly adapted from One-Pot Meals of Asia

Ingredients

• 1 (1.6-1.8kg) chicken¹, skinned and jointed
• 1/2-1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3-5 whole cloves (optional)
• 1-2 bay leaves (optional)
• 1 whole dried lime² (optional)
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 8-10 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/4 c. chickpea flour
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 2 c. coconut milk (lite/thin coconut milk is fine)
• 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
• 1 c. frozen chopped kale (optional)
• 1 c. frozen green peas³ (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1-3 Tbsp. hot chili oil
• 450g wheat noodles⁴
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
• 5-6 green onions, chopped
• 4 limes, quartered
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Sprinkle the chicken with the turmeric, cayenne, and salt and place it in a pot.
2. Add enough water to just cover the chicken. Toss in the cloves, bay leaves, and lime (if using).
3. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for ~20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, place the onions, garlic, and ginger in a blender or food processor and blend to form a paste. You may need to add a little water if using a blender for this step.
5. Once chicken is cooked, remove the pieces from the pot (reserving the broth).
6. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pick the meat from the bones and set it aside.
7. Heat neutral oil over medium-high heat and pour in the onion paste.
8. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated and the paste begins to fry.
9. Fry the paste for another 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the chicken and stir to coat it with the fried paste.
11. Add enough of the reserved stock to the chickpea flour to form a smooth paste and stir it into the pan.
12. Stir 2 c. of stock into the pan and bring to a boil.
13. Add the paprika, coconut milk, and lemongrass and cook for another 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly.
14. Add the kale and peas (if using) and cook until heated through.
15. Stir in the fish sauce and the chili oil.
16. Just before serving, boil the noodles. Aim for al dente so they still have a little bite to them.
17. Drain the noodles and give them a quick rinse under cold water.
18. Serve immediately! Place a serving of noodles on a plate/bowl and top with curry. Garnish with egg quarters, green onions, and cilantro. Serve each portion with a lime wedge so that diners may squeeze the juice over the curry before they eat it. Enjoy!

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¹ I ended up using ~1kg of chicken drumsticks + 250g of king oyster mushrooms that had been fried in butter and then seasoned with pepper and soy sauce. ^Back
2 Neither dried limes nor bay leaves nor cloves were called for in the original recipe and I didn't use them this time 'round but, after tasting the finished dish, I think they'd make a nice addition. ^Back
3 The original recipe also doesn't call for peas or kale. However, without them, it's severely lacking in the vegetable department. I didn't want to have to make a separate vegetable side -- kinda defeats the purpose of a one-pot meal, doesn't it? -- so I added some veggies to the curry. I think it worked pretty well. Especially since I was a bit short on chicken anyway. ^Back
4 I ended up using a bag of dried Chinese egg noodles for this. The author notes that spaghetti, vermicelli, or tagliatelli may be used if you don't have any Asian-style noodles. ^Back