As is usual in our household, we had a utilitarian day followed by some experimentation. We got our bathrooms clean, grocery shopping done, and a bit of family yoga. Next came the fun of making a meal for later in the week when we know we won’t have time. Then, our experiment with something we had no idea if we were going to be walking to Five Guys by nights end. Tonight’s experiment, coconut curry chicken noodle soup. Idea was: lets try to make our own curry paste, mix it with coconut milk and chicken broth, throw some chicken thighs in and top with the usual fresh veggies. I will have to say, we have outdone ourselves tonight. This is one that is going into rotation.
For the curry paste:
- 4 dried Guargillo peppers, rehydrated in about 2 C. of boiling water
- 8 cloves garlic
- 3 inch of ginger
- handful of cilantro stems
- 2 shallots
- 1 Tbsp coriander
- 1 Tbsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Curry powder
Once the dried peppers have rehydrated throw everything into the food processor with about 3 Tbsp of the rehydrating liquid. Whiz until you have a nice paste.
To make the soup:
- 4 C. chicken broth
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 6 boneless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
Put some oil in a Dutch oven and heat up to shimmering. Add about 1/2-2/3s of the curry paste (trying to be child friendly). Cook over medium flame until it gets some nice color. Add the broth and coconut milk. Cook for about 1/2 hour. Add chicken thighs and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove chicken and either shred or chop. Put back in soup and start making the noodles.
We picked up some fresh Asian noodles at the market today and boiled them for a couple minutes and used scissors to cut to 3 inchesish and place in bowls.
Once the soup is done, ladle the soup over the noodles making sure to get chicken in everyone’s bowl. Serve with:
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- cilantro sprigs
- basil
- lime
- fried onions
- bean sprouts (we used soy today)
Enjoy.
Working Dad Cooks 