Burmese Chicken-Coconut Soup (Ohn No Kyawswe)

My beautiful wife is Burmese. Her grandmother made this delicious soup for me and I have been hooked ever since. I was inspired and feeling adventurous one day and decided to make it myself. Not as good as Grandma's, but it works when she is not around.

• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
• Calories: 712 Calories

Ingredients

• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup coconut milk
• ½ onion, chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
• 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 3 cups chicken broth, divided
• 2 tablespoons chickpea flour
• 1 pinch curry powder, or to taste (Optional)
• 1 (16 ounce) package rice noodles
• 1 quart lukewarm water, or as needed to cover
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 ½ onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced on the bias, green and white parts
• 1 dash fish sauce, or to taste (Optional)
• 1 cup crispy fried rice noodles (Optional)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Place 1/2 chopped onion, ginger, garlic, and 1/4 cup water into a blender and puree until smooth. Soak rice noodles in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 30 minutes.

Step 2

Season chicken thigh meat lightly with salt and black pepper in a bowl and set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk 1 cup of chicken broth into the chickpea flour. Reserve remaining 2 cups chicken broth for a later step.

Step 3

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken pieces and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 1/2 sliced onions to the pan. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring until the onion is very tender and dark brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Stir in the turmeric, paprika, and cayenne pepper.

Step 4

In a medium stockpot, combine cooked chicken and any juices that have accumulated, browned onions, onion and ginger puree, and remaining 2 cups of chicken broth. Carefully add chickpea flour and broth mixture, stirring quickly so that the flour doesn't clump.

Step 5

Bring the pot to a boil; reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Step 6

Stir in the coconut milk and cook just until heated through. Divide the soaked rice noodles among 5 large soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the rice noodles in the bowls and garnish each bowl with lemon wedges, green onions, hard-cooked eggs, cilantro, fish sauce, fried noodles, and curry powder.