Chiang Mai Chicken

Cook the Book

Caroline Russock

[Photograph: Luk Thys]

Adapted from Bangkok Street Food by Tom Vandenberghe and Eva Verplaetse this Chiang Mai Chicken is a big, beautiful bowl of soup, brimming with countless tastes and textures.

Ingredients

2 chicken legs
4 tablespoons. coconut cream
1 tablespoons palm sugar
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 cups chicken stock
1 handful of fresh egg noodles
A few deep-fried egg noodles
2 spring onion, chopped
1 handful of chopped coriander leaves
Paste
3 big, red, dried chillies, deseeded, soaked in water for 10 minutes, drained, chopped
2 red shallots, chopped
1 teaspoon coriander seed, roasted
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 coriander roots, scraped and chopped
Pinch of salt
To Serve
Thai pickled vegetables
1 shallot, sliced finely
1 lime, cut in wedges

1.

Pound the paste ingredients together, using a pestle and mortar, until smooth.
2.

Simmer the coconut cream in a pan until the oil starts to separate. Turn down the heat and add the paste. Fry the paste in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer. Season with palm sugar, light and dark soy sauce. Moisten with stock and simmer for about 20 minutes, the chicken should be cooked.
3.

Blanch the egg noodles, put into a bowl, top with the chicken and pour
over the soup. Top it with deep-fried egg noodles and garnish with spring
onion and coriander. Serve with pickled vegetables, slices of shallot and
wedges of lime.