Burmese Noodles
Marinade Time: 0.5-12 hours
Prep Time: 20 Mins
Cook Time: 30 Mins
Total Time: 50 Mins
Serves: 4
Burmese noodles, Ohn no Khauk Swe, is among the top 5 favourite dishes that my grandma used to make. The rich turmeric coconut broth, extremely flavourful thanks to the caramelized onions, is thickened with chickpea flour so that it clings to the noodles. Although more traditional recipes will use chicken thighs, I find that using chicken breasts lightens up this meal quite a bit. Topped with an assortment of garnishes such as a jammy egg, cilantro, peanuts, and green onions, the toppings play almost as much of a role in the flavour as the broth.
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
4 chicken breasts (approximately 1kg total), cut into 2cm cubes
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon curry powder
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for cooking
Soup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 large yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
4-5 tablespoons chickpea flour
3 cups chicken broth, plus more to deglaze
400ml can of coconut milk
1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
225 g rice noodles, egg noodles, or any thin pasta
200g snow peas, ends trimmed and cut into 1 cm pieces.
Garnishes (to choose from)
Fresh lime wedges
Fried onion slices
Deep fried garlic
Cilantro
Roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
Green onions, thinly sliced
Crushed red pepper,
Eggs hard-boiled or soft-boiled
Directions
Sprinkle the chicken evenly with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon curry powder. Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1-2 hours and up to 12 hours.
Optional step: Heat 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a 4L Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer, working in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned but still pink in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl and set aside. This step is optional, it helps deliver more flavor to the chicken, but if you are pressed for time you can just add the raw chicken into the soup and have it cook from raw in 4-6 minutes.
In the same Dutch oven, heat the 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Sauté the onions until just caramelized, lowering the heat as you go, and adding additional oil to avoid burning for about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the chili powder, turmeric, and chickpea flour and stir constantly for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.
Add in the broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and soy sauce, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken the broth. Add the chicken and lower the heat so it simmers until the chicken is cooked to 165F, about 2-5 more minutes if you partially cooked the chicken (step 2) or 4-6 minutes from raw.
In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil, add the rice noodles, and cook according to the package instructions. Using tongs of a slotted spoon, remove the noodles and place them in a colander. Run them under cold water so they don’t stick together. In the same boiling water, add the snow peas and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse them under cold water to blanch them, this will keep them bright green.
To serve, add some noodles to each bowl, top with the chicken curry and then garnish with the toppings desired.
Notes
I prefer using rice noodles for the taste, but they are far more fragile and likely to break into a big mush if you are not careful. Using pasta, although not as traditional, is easier to serve.
