Northern Thai Coconut Curry Adventure

This was my own fault for raising expectations. “There’s a special noodle dish that we get,” I said as the four of us headed to the Thai restaurant. “Such amazing flavor. It’s messy, though. You practically need a bib.”

Guillaume and I regularly order “khao soy,” a Northern Thai dish with a spicy, tangy coconut curry soup base. The bowl comes piled with veggies and a nest of fried egg noodles on top. But when I inquired about a vegan version for our friends, the waitress said the base contained seafood.

Never had the words “shrimp paste” been so disappointing.

So I vowed to unravel the mysteries of khao soy, also called khao soi, and develop a tasty vegan version. In researching recipes, I quickly realized that there’s no one “right” base. Every one is slightly different, and so are the techniques for getting there.

Most call for making red curry paste from scratch. I was about to try this, but then came across a Thai curry noodles with shrimp recipe on Food52. Just use some red curry paste, it said. And hey, the grocery store sold a small jar of vegan Thai red curry paste. This one is super mild, though, I started adding a little store-bought chili oil near the end.

Online recipes usually feature chicken or shrimp, although one vegan version had tempeh. Whenever we ordered khao soy at the restaurant, we just got it with a mound of colorful parboiled vegetables that didn’t make us miss protein.

Fish sauce is ubiquitous, too. Thomas at the Full of Plants blog suggests infusing broth with dried shiitake and seaweed instead. He says this helps give the dish a “fish” flavor. Then I saw that a Food52 commenter used white miso paste for umami. That sounded much easier, and it led to a wonderful discovery.

You can use whatever noodles you’d like. We prefer fresh jumbo udon since it’s what the restaurant serves. With dry noodles, cook enough for four servings.

I’m pretty sure that the restaurant adds pickled mustard greens. We found a 10.5-oz package of “pickled sour mustard” from Thailand at H-Mart in the refrigerated section. They smell and taste similar to dill pickles you’d get from the condiment aisle. Although we appreciated their sour crunchiness, they’re optional.

To avoid fried egg noodles for the topping — they quickly get soggy in the broth anyway — I took inspiration from Food52 and went with fried shallots. You can fry your own, or just buy a jar from the grocery store that has a short ingredient list.

This is a flexible dish. Want to add some fresh chopped cilantro at the end? Go for it. A big fan of raw red onion slivers as garnish? Slice away. Maybe you want some mushrooms with the veggies. You do you.

A note about coconut milk: This stuff varies like crazy. Some cans had a thick layer of coconut cream on top, others didn’t. I accidentally produced dangerous splatters before figuring this out. To be safe, use a can opener to find out what you’ve got. The cream is unmistakably thick. You’ll need to melt it completely before adding the curry paste. A more liquid coconut milk should just get whisked in after you sauté the curry paste.

Vegan Northern Thai Coconut Curry Noodles (Khao Soy)
Serves four generously

About 28 oz. fresh jumbo udon noodles (around 7 oz. per serving)
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen brand, which is vegan)
1 Tbsp. curry powder
½ tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. white miso paste
2 cans (14 oz. each) unsweetened coconut milk, unshaken (see note above)
2 C. vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 small zucchini
1 medium carrot
1 small head of broccoli
1 red bell pepper
½ C. pickled mustard greens (optional)
Salt
Chili oil (optional)
1 lime, for garnish
Fried shallots, for garnish

If using pickled mustard greens, finely chop them into bite-sized pieces and set them aside in a bowl.

Wash the carrot, zucchini, and red bell pepper. Peel and cut the top off the carrot. Trim the zucchini and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut the top off the pepper and remove the seeds. Cut it in half. Trim the broccoli stem and then cut the broccoli in half lengthwise. Mince garlic.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

Carefully lower the vegetables into the boiling water. Let them boil for about 5 minutes or until fork tender. Might need to give the carrot two more minutes. Remove with tongs and allow to cool on a cutting board or plate.

Prepare the udon according to the directions, rinse with cold water, and set aside to cool in a strainer. Measure out the sugar and set it aside. Prepare the lime juice.

Once the vegetables are cool enough to handle, cut the zucchini halves into quarters lengthwise, and then slice them thinly. Slice the carrot into thin rounds with a sharp knife. Cut each red pepper chunk in half and then into thin strips. Chop the broccoli into bite-sized portions.

Open the unshaken cans of coconut milk with a can opener. Determine whether or not there’s any coconut cream.

In a small glass mixing bowl, combine the garlic, red curry paste, miso paste, madras curry powder, turmeric, and cumin.

Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a large pot. Add the curry mixture to the oil and then begin heating the pan to medium-high. Once the paste begins making noise, stir it into the oil four about a minute or so using a wooden or durable plastic spoon.

If you have coconut cream from the cans, add all of it now, stirring and pressing to melt it completely with the spoon. Steadily mix in the liquid coconut milk, one can at a time.

Now stir in the brown sugar, vegetable broth, and lime juice. Bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Salt the broth to taste. It makes a huge difference, so keep going until the broth tastes good. Add chili oil to taste, if desired, starting with a teaspoon. Mix in the parboiled vegetables and optional chopped pickled mustard greens. Bring to just a boil and then set the pot off the burner.

Run hot water over the cooked udon noodles to warm them up. Divide the noodles into four large bowls. Carefully ladle the soup base and vegetables into each of the bowls. Top with a sprinkle of fried shallots and serve with a fresh lime wedge.

Refrigerate any leftover soup separately from the noodles.