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A deep bowl of Burmese coconut chicken noodle soup: golden turmeric broth over wheat noodles with chicken pieces, topped with crispy fried noodles, a halved hard-boiled egg, cilantro, chili flakes, and a lime wedge

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
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
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.