I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. I love Kitchen Play.
I think the concept of the site is terrific: I was psyched to do a product review/giveaway in conjunction with Kitchen Play and a post for the January Progressive Party. I also try to participate in Kitchen Play’s monthly “contests”, and so far I’ve won a mandoline and $100 for doing so. Not bad, huh?!
I was sad when I realized it was already March and I hadn’t had a chance to post a recipe based on one of the February Progressive Party dishes. Then I went to the site and saw the deadline had been extended to March 6th. Yay! So here’s what I came up with: a Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup that was inspired by this recipe by It All Starts with Butter.
The original recipe features beef from Kitchen Play’s February sponsor: Canadian Beef. The beauty of Kitchen Play is that you’re not bound to any specific ingredients when you try one of the Progessive Party dishes, though. So I used some organic chicken stock/meat and veggies/herbs I had on hand, along with Thai staples I keep in my refrigerator and pantry. Once you compile all the ingredients, this soup is quick to make and really delicious…I give it two thumbs WAY up.
Coincidentally, there happens to be a Soup Week Challenge going on over at Fine Cooking right now. Y’all know I love a cooking challenge, so I’ve entered this soup :)
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Similar soups that look similarly fantastic:
Thom Ka Gai Soup from Rasa Malaysia
Thai Chicken Coconut Soup from Steamy Kitchen
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup from Closet Cooking
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup from Ezra Pound Cake
Recipe for Thai Inspired Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- *8 cups organic chicken stock preferably homemade
- *5 kaffir lime leaves
- *1 thumb-sized chunk of fresh ginger peeled
- *2 tablespoons "Dates and Tamarind Cooking Sauce" I used the one from Stonehouse 27 which is a great combination of sweet and spicy; if you can't find it, I would add a tablespoon or two of palm or brown sugar to sweeten the broth and some minced fresh hot chile pepper/dried Thai chiles/hot chile sauce to spice it up
- *2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
- *3 medium carrots peeled if not organic and cut lengthwise into strips a few inches long
- *1 red pepper preferably organic, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
- *green tops from 1 bunch of green onions/scallions cut to approximately same length as carrots and peppers
- *12 oz. organic chicken breasts sliced thin
- *1 can organic coconut milk I used Thai Kitchen brand
- *1-2 handfuls pad-thai style rice noodles I used Tinkyada brand, and used the lessor amount
- *to garnish each serving- a handful of fresh cilantro and a handful of fresh mint chopped, plus fresh lime juice and additional tamarind-date paste or chile sauce to taste
Instructions
- 1. In a medium pot on the stove, heat the stock with the kaffir lime leaves, ginger, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat to conserve energy and let steep for 20 minutes. Remove and discard the limes leaves and the ginger.
- 2. Turn the heat to medium and add the carrots, peppers, green onion tops, and coconut milk to the stock. Cook for 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the chicken pieces and cook for another few minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
- 3. Add the rice noodles and take the pot off the heat, again to conserve energy. Cover the pot and allow the noodles to soften (which will take 10-15 minutes). When noodles are cooked through, portion the soup ingredients evenly into bowls. Top each portion with cilantro and mint. Squeeze fresh lime over each bowl before serving, and add more tamarind-date or chile sauce to taste.
