Ohn No Khao Swè: Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodles

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Paul makes this soup when the weather turns cold and the house needs to smell like dinner from the front door. It is a mild, creamy coconut broth over soft wheat noodles, and the real fun is the toppings bar: crispy fried noodles, hard-boiled egg, raw onion, lime, and chili flakes, so everyone builds their own bowl. The whole thing comes together in about an hour, most of it hands-off simmering.

What is ohn no khao swè?

Ohn no khao swè (အုန်းနို့ခေါက်ဆွဲ) translates roughly to "coconut milk noodles," and the name tells you the whole dish: noodles in a turmeric-yellow coconut broth. In Myanmar it is one of the two soups you find everywhere, the other being mohinga, the national fish chowder. Where mohinga is bold and fishy, ohn no khao swè is gentle and rich, a soup built for piling toppings onto.

It is also the ancestor of a soup you already know. "Khao soi," the Northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup, does not mean anything in Thai; it is almost certainly a derivation of "khao swè," the Burmese word for noodles, and the two dishes share the same DNA: creamy coconut broth, soft wheat noodles, a crown of crispy fried noodles on top. Paul's khao soi uses a curry paste for punch. This one stays soft and lets the turmeric and chicken carry it.

The two moves that make it

Most versions of this soup online get one thing right and one thing wrong. The thing to get right is the thickener. This soup is not a plain coconut milk broth. It gets its body from two tablespoons of chickpea (besan) flour whisked into half a cup of cold water and stirred in mid-simmer. The soup should coat the back of a spoon but still pour like a soup, not a sauce. If you skip the flour, you get coconut soup. With it, you get ohn no khao swè.

The thing to know is the order. The flour slurry goes in before the coconut milk, while the soup is still just stock and spices, because it is thin enough then to take the slurry without lumps. The coconut milk goes in after, and from that moment the pot never boils hard again. A rolling boil splits coconut milk into an oily film with grainy flecks. A bare simmer keeps it silky, and that is the difference between a restaurant bowl and a sad one.

For the soup

• 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 tbsp fish sauce, for marinating

• 1/4 cup neutral oil

• 1 large onion, diced

• 4 garlic cloves, grated

• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tbsp mild curry powder

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 2 tbsp chickpea (besan) flour

• 1/2 cup cold water

• 4 cups chicken stock

• 2 cans (13.5 oz each) coconut milk, well shaken

• 2 tbsp fish sauce, plus more at the table

• Salt to taste

For the noodles and toppings

• 12 oz fresh wheat noodles or dried egg noodles

• 2 oz dry thin egg noodles, for frying (or a handful of store-bought crispy noodles)

• 3 hard-boiled eggs, halved

• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced

• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

• 2 limes, cut into wedges

• 2 tbsp chili flakes

How to make ohn no khao swè

1. Toss the chicken with 1 tbsp fish sauce and set it aside for 15 minutes while you chop everything else. The salt in the sauce seasons the meat from the start.

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden at the edges. Stir in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder, and paprika, and cook 1 minute, until the spices smell fragrant and turn a deeper orange.

1. Add the chicken and stir until every piece is coated in the spice mixture. Cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring once, until the chicken is opaque at the edges but not cooked through.

1. Pour in the chicken stock, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then drop to a steady simmer and cook 15 minutes.

1. Whisk the chickpea flour into the 1/2 cup cold water until completely smooth. Stir the slurry into the simmering soup and cook 5 minutes. The soup turns lightly creamy and leaves a thin coat on the spoon.

1. Stir in the coconut milk. From here on, keep the pot at the barest simmer, barely a bubble, for 10 more minutes. Do not let it boil hard.

1. Season with 2 tbsp fish sauce and salt to taste. The soup should taste savory first, then warm from the spices. The lime and chili come at the table, not in the pot.

1. Cook the noodles according to the package, drain, and keep warm.

1. Fry the topping noodles in 350°F (175°C) oil. They puff up in under 30 seconds. Lift them out with a spider or tongs before they color much, because they keep darkening on the paper towel. Cool, then crumble by hand into bite-size pieces.

1. To serve, put a handful of noodles in each deep bowl and ladle over the soup. Set out the crispy noodles, egg halves, raw onion, cilantro, lime wedges, chili flakes, and fish sauce, and let everyone top their own bowl. Squeeze the lime over the soup last; acid dulls the turmeric color if it sits too long.

Tips and variations

Thighs are the right cut. Breasts dry out over the long simmer; thighs stay tender and give the broth more flavor. If you use bone-in thighs, give the soup 10 extra minutes and pull the meat off the bone before serving. In Myanmar, cooks use the whole bird for exactly this reason.

The chickpea flour is non-negotiable for texture, but it is forgiving about brand. Any besan or gram flour from an Indian or international grocery works. Toasting it dry in a skillet for 2 minutes first deepens the flavor, though Paul usually skips that on weeknights.

Leftovers keep well. Store the noodles, soup, and crispy toppings in separate containers; the soup thickens as it sits, so loosen it with a splash of stock when reheating. Everything holds 3 days in the fridge. Do not freeze it. The coconut milk separates on thawing and the noodles turn to mush.

For heat control, keep the chili flakes at the table instead of in the pot. The soup itself stays mild, which is why kids tend to like it, and each person decides their own heat.

Troubleshooting: Fix My Ohn No Khao Swè

A few things can go wrong with this soup, and all of them are fixable. Here are the most common ones and what to do. The widget below covers more.

This troubleshooting guide is not available yet.

Ohn No Khao Swè: Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodles

Burma's creamy coconut chicken noodle soup: chicken thighs simmered with onion, ginger, turmeric, and a spoonful of chickpea flour for body, served over noodles with a full toppings bar.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 4 bowls

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the soup

• 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp fish sauce for marinating
• 1/4 cup neutral oil
• 1 large onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves grated
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp chickpea (besan) flour the thickener
• 1/2 cup cold water for the flour slurry
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cans coconut milk (13.5 oz each) well shaken
• 2 tbsp fish sauce plus more at the table
• salt to taste

For the noodles and toppings

• 12 oz fresh wheat noodles or dried egg noodles
• 2 oz dry thin egg noodles for frying, or store-bought crispy noodles
• 3 hard-boiled eggs halved
• 1/2 small onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped
• 2 limes cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp chili flakes

Method

 

1. Marinate the chicken. Toss the chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon fish sauce and set aside for 15 minutes while you chop everything else.
2. Bloom the spices. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden at the edges. Stir in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder, and paprika, and cook 1 minute, until fragrant and a deeper orange.
3. Add the chicken. Stir until every piece is coated in the spice mixture. Cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring once, until the chicken is opaque at the edges but not cooked through.
4. Simmer the base. Pour in the chicken stock, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then drop to a steady simmer and cook 15 minutes.
5. Thicken. Whisk the chickpea flour into the 1/2 cup cold water until completely smooth. Stir the slurry into the simmering soup and cook 5 minutes — the soup turns lightly creamy and leaves a thin coat on the spoon.
6. Add the coconut milk. Stir it in, then hold the pot at the barest simmer, barely a bubble, for 10 more minutes. Do not let it boil hard.
7. Season. Stir in 2 tablespoons fish sauce and salt to taste. The soup should taste savory first, then warm from the spices.
8. Cook the noodles. Cook the noodles according to the package, drain, and keep warm.
9. Fry the topping noodles. Fry in 350°F (175°C) oil — they puff in under 30 seconds. Lift them out before they color much, drain on paper towel, and crumble by hand into bite-size pieces.
10. Serve. Put a handful of noodles in each deep bowl and ladle over the soup. Set out the crispy noodles, egg halves, raw onion, cilantro, lime wedges, chili flakes, and fish sauce, and let everyone top their own bowl, squeezing the lime over the soup last.

Notes

Note 1: The thickener is the whole texture. Whisk the 2 tablespoons of besan into 1/2 cup cold water until completely smooth before it touches the hot soup — dry flour dumped straight in makes lumps that never whisk out.

Note 2: The slurry goes in before the coconut milk, while the soup is still thin, so it disperses without lumps. The milk then keeps the simmer gentle.

Note 3: Never let the pot come back to a rolling boil once the coconut milk is in. A hard boil splits it into an oily film with grainy flecks; a bare simmer keeps it silky.

Note 4: Fry the topping noodles at 350°F (175°C) — they puff in under 30 seconds. Lift them out before they color much, because they keep darkening on the paper towel.

Note 5: Leftovers keep 3 days refrigerated, but store the noodles, soup, and crispy toppings in separate containers. The soup thickens as it sits — loosen it with a splash of stock when reheating. Do not freeze it.

More Burmese recipes

• Mohinga: Burmese fish noodle soup: the bold national dish, for when you want fish and lemongrass

• Burmese tea leaf salad (lahpet thoke): the famous fermented tea leaf salad

• Khao soi: Thai coconut curry noodles: the Thai descendant of this very soup