Chiang Mai Noodles

Recently, I've spent a lot of time baking, this time though, I'm heading back to my savoury roots and sharing one of my favourite noodle recipes - Chiang Mai Noodles. Whilst the name suggests the Chiang Mai region in Thailand, the dish itself doesn't bear the traditional hallmarks of Northern Thai cuisine, for a start it uses copious quantities of coconut milk that isn't traditional in northern thai food, but regardless of it's authenticity, it is lovely, sweet, sour and creamy with a decent wollop of heat.

The recipe below should make 4 servings, but to be honest, I eat big when it comes to curries so I pop it into two big bowls, and work my way quite happily almost all the way through one. I've also added fried tofu (stop gagging) and beansprouts, which are not traditional in the dish, but add texture and taste to the dish - as with most of my recipes, play around with the flavours and ingredients you like.

Chiang Mai Noodles
2 large servings, or 4 smaller servings

• 250 grams fresh egg noodles
• 1 to 2 small red chillies, deseeded and chopped finely
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 asian shallots, chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons good quality red curry paste (home made if possible)
• 350 grams chicken breast, sliced finely into strips
• 1 tablespoon chopped palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or to taste)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 750mls coconut milk
• juice of half a lime
• small handful of chopped coriander leaves
• 4 medium green onions, chopped finely
• chopped red chillies for garnish
• packaged fried noodles to garnish

Method

1. Cook noodles for a few minutes in a pot of boiling water until cooked. Drain, drizzle with a little oil, toss and set aside.
2. In a mortar and pestle (or small food processor), pound the garlic, chillies, shallots and curry paste until a thick and chunky paste.
3. Heat a wok over medium to high heat, add a tablespoon or two of oil, stir in the paste mixture and stir constantly for a few minutes to cook out the raw taste of the paste, add the chicken and fry for a few minutes more until the outside of the chicken is cooked.
4. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, chicken stock, coconut milk and lime juice and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. (add tofu here if using). Taste and add extra sugar or lime juice if needed.
5. Place the noodles into individual bowls, scoop chicken pieces on top, and ladle curry soup on top. Garnish with spring onion, chillies, coriander and fried noodles. (add bean sprouts here if using).