Khow Suey: Burmese Coconut Chicken Noodles

Khow Suey

Khow Suey is a comforting Burmese coconut and chicken noodles dish.
Burmese Indians emigrated to Myanmar at the start of British rule in 1850s. During colonial times the 'Indians' formed the backbone of the civil service, trade and labour.
Khow Suey is a spiced Indo-Burmese version of the traditional Burmese 'Ohn no khao swè' made by Burmese Indians. This is my take on this amazing dish!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Burmese, Indian, Indo-Burmese, Noodles
Servings 5

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg chicken thighs, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 3 medium onions, diced
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • ½ tbsp ginger paste
  • 2 tsp FoodieChief's Kashmiri chilli paste Alternatively, use paprika.
  • 1 tsp tumeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp cumin powder Optional. This is not traditional, but the desi version usually has cumin and coriander added.
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • salt to taste (be careful, especially if your adding fish sauce)
  • 1 tsp MSG (optional)
  • 50 g creamed coconut or 100ml coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp roasted gram flour (besan)
  • 750 ml Asian style chicken stock Alternativily use water.
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce

Asian Chicken stock

  • 1 kg chicken wings
  • 1 star anise
  • 5 cm knob of ginger, sliced
  • 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 litre water

Chilli oil

  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • tsp garlic, finely diced or paste
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp belacan (shrimp paste), alternatively use Thai shrimp paste (Gapi)
  • 2 tbsp FoodieChief's Kashmiri chilli paste
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • salt to taste (the shrimp paste is salty, please add salt after tasting)
  • 1 tbsp oil

Garnishes

  • fried noodles or fried samosa leaves
  • fried garlic slices
  • chilli oil (see ingredients above)
  • lime wedges
  • soft boil eggs (7 min egg)
  • 300 g medium egg noodles (one pack)

Instructions
 

Asian style chicken stock (If making fresh).

  • Add the chicken wings, star anise, ginger, spring onions, whole onion and garlic to a large saucepan. Add 2 litres of water and bring to a simmer for 1½hours. You will only need approx 750ml. Freeze the rest and use as a base for ramen, laksa or any far eastern curries.

Spicy Khow Suey curry

Prepare the noodles and the garnishes

Chilli oil

  • Saute onions in oil until they become translucent.
  • Saute garlic until the rawness is cooked out and the garlic becomes fragrant.
  • Add Foodiechief's Kashmiri Chilli paste and saute for 30 seconds.
  • Add belacan (this is intense, so keep the windows and air vents open on full). Alternatively, cook outside!
  • Add sugar and white vinegar. You may want to add a little splash of water to ensure the sugar doesn't burn.
  • Taste for salt and add if required.
Keyword Coconut noodles, Khow Suey, Noodle soup, Soup

Join the Conversation

  1. 5 stars
    Masha’Allah nicely designed website. Comprehensive recipe with videos. Top class stuff, keep it up.

    1. Thanks for the feedback and support, Ismail

  2. 5 stars
    Mashallah very nice .
    But just letting you know, you don’t put dunya and zeera powder in ow no kawsay and coconut curry should be cooked separately.
    And honestly it will taste absolutely authentic.

    1. Thanks for the feedback.
      I quickly realised that there’s no standard recipe for the desi style Khowsey.
      They all vary in spices, my version is a hybrid between the two! Hence the disclaimer!
      I now need to research a recipe for mohinga!

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