Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup features the delicious savory flavors of garlic, ginger, and fish sauce, with a hint of creamy coconut.
It's not often that I make something for dinner that my whole family enjoys, as both of my kids are a little on the picky side. But this Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup fits the bill, even though my son typically doesn't like soup at all.
This soup is fairly simple, but loaded with delicious savory flavor - garlic, onion, ginger, and fish sauce provide the majority of the flavor, with a hint of creamy coconut milk. The soup gets its rich yellow color from turmeric and paprika. The chicken and the noodles give the soup substance and help ensure that it fills you up.
This hearty soup is perfect for cold winter evenings and is a great alternative to traditional chicken noodle soup if you're feeling under the weather.
How to make Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup
Making this soup starts with prepping the chicken, as it will need to marinate with the aromatics for a short time while you're prepping the rest of the ingredients.
Cut the chicken into small bite-sized pieces (about ½"). Put the diced chicken into a medium bowl and stir in the minced garlic, grated ginger, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne, as well as part of the fish sauce and salt.
Mince the onion (or use frozen chopped onion for convenience) and saute it with some oil and salt until soft. Add the chicken and its seasonings and cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
Whisk the chickpea flour (if using) into some of the chicken broth and set aside. Stir the remaining chicken broth, water, coconut milk, and remaining fish sauce into the soup, and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once boiling, stir in the chickpea flour mixed with the chicken broth (this will help to thicken the broth). Reduce the temperature and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a second pot of water to boil and cook the noodles of your choice according to the directions on the package (make sure to cook the noodles until they are tender, but not too soft, as they will continue to soften in the soup).
Place a portion of noodles into each bowl, then ladle the soup over the noodles. Garnish the soup with lime wedges, cilantro, and/or chili garlic sauce to serve (I used a little bit of coarse chili powder).
How to Store Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup Leftovers
Store the cooked noodles and the soup separately in airtight containers to prevent the noodles from getting soggy. To reheat, portion the leftovers in bowls the same way you did when the meal was fresh, and reheat in the microwave. Garnish the soup once it's reheated.
Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- Garlic
- Grated fresh ginger - pro-tip: always keep one or two pieces of ginger in the freezer and grate it from frozen with a microplane.
- Fish sauce - fish sauce adds a ton of savory flavor to this soup. Find fish sauce in the international aisle of well-stocked supermarkets or in Asian markets.
- Ground turmeric
- Paprika
- Cayenne powder - the soup is fairly mild if you use only ¼ teaspoon. Increase to ½ teaspoon if you want your soup spicier.
- Kosher salt - or use MSG-salt to enhance the savory flavors in the soup
- Chickpea flour - this is optional. It does help to thicken the broth, but it doesn't add or change the flavor significantly. If you can't find it (or don't want to buy a whole package just for this soup), feel free to skip it.
- Reduced-sodium chicken broth - You can also use regular chicken broth and cut back on the salt that you add to the recipe or it will be very salty (see recipe notes for details).
- Canola oil - or use another neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Yellow onions - you will need to mince two whole onions. Feel free to use frozen chopped onions to save time.
- Water - you will use this both in the soup and to cook the noodles. Use whatever water you normally drink. Cold tap water is fine.
- Canned coconut milk - I used regular coconut milk, but light would work too if you are looking to cut back on fat (especially saturated fat). Make sure whatever coconut milk you choose is unsweetened.
- Dried noodles - you can use wheat-based noodles like chow mein, ramen, or udon, or rice noodles. Use rice noodles to make this soup gluten-free.
- Lime wedges, cilantro, and/or chili garlic sauce - this is optional, to serve.
Want more noodle soup recipes?
Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information calculations include the optional chickpea flour but do not include any additional garnishes. The calculations also use reduced-sodium chicken broth.
This soup is high in sodium. To cut back on sodium, make sure to use reduced- or low-sodium chicken broth, or even a no-added-salt version. You can also reduce the amount of salt added to the soup, or omit it totally.
To reduce the total and saturated fat content of this soup (as well as calories, slightly), use light coconut milk instead of regular.
To make this soup gluten-free, use rice noodles.
Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- Microplane to grate ginger
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts trimmed of any excess fat and cut into ½" pieces
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 4 Tablespoons fish sauce divided
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder or use up to ½ teaspoon if you want your soup spicier - it's mild with ¼ teaspoon
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or MSG-salt, divided
- 3 Tablespoons canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 medium yellow onions minced
- 6 Tablespoons chickpea flour optional
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth divided, see note
- 3 cups water plus more for cooking the noodles
- 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1 pound dried noodles use rice noodles to make this soup gluten-free
- Lime wedges, cilantro, and/or chili garlic sauce optional, to serve
Instructions
- Stir together the diced chicken, minced garlic, 2 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger, 1 Tablespoon of the fish sauce, 2 teaspoons ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder, and 1 ½ teaspoons of the kosher salt. Let it sit while you start preparing the other ingredients.
- Heat 3 Tablespoons canola oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large saucepan. Add the minced onions and the remaining ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Cook until the onions are softened and just starting to brown. Stir in the chicken mixture, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the chicken is no longer pink.
- Whisk together 6 Tablespoons chickpea flour and 1 cup of the chicken broth in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add the remaining 3 cups of chicken broth, the remaining 3 Tablespoons of fish sauce, the can of coconut milk, and 3 cups of water. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir the chicken broth-chickpea flour mixture to recombine, then stir it into the soup. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, bring another large saucepan of water to a boil. Add 1 pound dried noodles and cook until tender, but not too soft (follow the instructions on the package). Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Drain any excess water.
- Place your desired amount of noodles in individual bowls, then top the noodles with your desired amount of the chicken soup. Serve with lime wedges, cilantro, and/or chili-garlic sauce as desired.
- Store any leftover noodles and soup separately to prevent the noodles from becoming soggy.
Notes
Nutrition
*Recipe adapted from Milk Street Noodles
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