About this recipe
Khao piak sen is a comforting Lao noodle soup built on thick, soft, chewy fresh noodles made from a rice-and-tapioca dough that is rolled and hand-cut, then simmered so they turn slippery and slightly starchy in a clear chicken (or pork) broth. It is finished with shredded chicken, fried garlic and shallots and fresh herbs, and brightened with lime and chilli at the table. The name means, roughly, wet rice noodles. It belongs to the region's family of rice-noodle soups but is distinct from the thin-noodle clear soups of Cambodia and the dark aromatic broth of Vietnamese pho; the thick chewy noodle is its signature. This book presents the Lao form and logs the cross-border relationships for verification.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Prep
- 40 minutes
- Cook
- About 1 hour 30 minutes (mostly broth)
- Total
- 130 minutes
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Spice
- Mild (heat added at the table)
Allergens Contains poultry and, as written, fish sauce; the noodles contain rice flour and tapioca. Contains no dairy or coconut. Not vegetarian as written. See the halal-status field.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The broth
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 lb / 1.6 kg), or 2 lb (900 g) chicken pieces
- 3 qt (2.8 L) water
- 1 whole onion, halved
- 3 in (7.5 cm) fresh ginger, halved and lightly charred
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fish sauce, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp (5 g) salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) white pepper
The fresh noodles
- 1 1/2 cups (190 g) rice flour
- 1/2 cup (60 g) tapioca starch, plus more for dusting
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) boiling water, or as needed
To finish and serve
- 3 cloves garlic, fried in 3 tbsp oil until golden (with the oil)
- 3 tbsp fried shallots
- 4 scallions, sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander
- Lime wedges and sliced chilli
Equipment
- Large stockpot
- Rolling pin and knife, or a pasta cutter, for the noodles
- Fine skimmer
Method
- Make the broth: simmer the chicken in the 3 qt water with the onion, ginger and garlic until the chicken is cooked and the broth is flavourful, about 1 hour, skimming as needed. Lift out the chicken, and when cool shred the meat, discarding skin and bone; reserve the broth.
- Season the strained broth with the fish sauce, salt and white pepper; keep it hot.
- Make the noodles: mix the rice flour and tapioca starch, then stir in the boiling water and knead to a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough, adding a little more water or flour as needed. Let it rest 15 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a well-dusted surface to about 1/4 in (6 mm) thick and cut into short, wide strips, dusting with tapioca starch to stop them sticking.
- Bring the broth (or a separate pot of water) to a gentle boil and cook the noodles until they float and turn slippery and chewy, 3 to 5 minutes. If cooked in water, lift them into the hot broth.
- Divide the noodles and shredded chicken among bowls and ladle the hot broth over.
- Top with fried garlic and its oil, fried shallots, scallion and coriander, and serve with lime and chilli so each person can finish the bowl to taste.
The Complete Edition
Khao Piak Sen (Rice Noodle Soup) sits in the Laos chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Laos chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.