This is the signature dish of Chiang Mai, a rich coconut curry served over egg noodles, although I’m sure it would be delicious over any kind of noodles or rice. It’s a bit unusual, because other than from a bit of red curry paste, it doesn’t have the usual Thai mix of sweet/salty/sour/hot; in fact, there’s only salt and sour in the curry itself, with the hot (and more sour) being supplied by the garnishes.

Ingredients:

• 3 x 13.5 oz. cans coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. red curry paste
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 lb. chicken (prefer thighs to breast), boned and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. light soy
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice

For garnishes:

• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp. coarsely ground (or any) chili pepper
• 1/2 C. pickled cabbage or other preserved green vegetable (soak and drain if it’s salty)
• 1/2 C. coarsely cut shallot
• 1 lime, cut lengthwise into 6 wedges
• 1 pound Chinese-style egg noodles, cooked to desired doneness and drained
• 1/2 C. sliced scallion

Method:

Open the coconut milk:

Scrape off the coconut cream (the thick white part) into a large saucepan or wok:

You should get around 3/4 to 1-1/4 C.:

Over medium heat, bring the coconut milk to the boil, then cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7-8 minutes. Depending on how much fat there is in the coconut creme, one of two things will happen: (1) tiny pools of fat will appear on the surface of the cream, at which point stop cooking it, or (2) it will just dry out, in which case stop when it gets dryish (you may need to add a bit of the coconut milk if it gets too dry, like this):

Stir in the turmeric and the red curry paste to dissolve. Continue to stir and cook for a couple of minutes, until you can smell the curry paste:

Add the chicken and stir for about 2 minutes. Increase the heat and add the coconut milk, fish sauce and both soy sauces. Stir well, then cook at a medium boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Make the chili oil: Heat the oil and chili powder in a small skillet over low heat (be careful, it burns easily) for 3 minutes:

Prepare the rest of the garnishes:

In each bowl, place noodles and top with the curry and scallions:

Serve with garnishes:

Yum!

-R

PS Pretty pretty lettuces from my back patio:

-R