Khow Suey is a traditional Burmese noodle soup made with egg noodles, chicken or beef in a coconut milk curry, with a variety of condiments. Spring onion, fried onion, fried garlic, peanuts, and lemon wedges to name a few. As it so happens, we have an excellent Burmese hot spot in town and I have tried more than just the traditional Khow Suey. Burma Burma has an amazing variety about which you can read all about in the link.
The noodle soup is set apart by the array of condiments that go along with it. I have been an admirer of the dish for a while now. And I think its more to do with how easily customizable it is than my general love for coconut milk. Add as many chilly flakes, crunchy fried onions, and splashes of lemon juice as you like. You really can’t go wrong with it. So, let’s get started. It’s much easier than Thai curries, here are a few if you would like to try!
Red Thai curry from scratch
Panang Thai curry
Massaman curry
Ingredients for Khow Suey
For the Khow Suey curry
- Onion, chopped – 1, medium-sized
- Ginger, chopped – 1 tbsp
- Garlic, chopped – 1 tbsp
- Red chilies, de-seeded – 2
- Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Gram flour/ Besan – 3 tbsp
- Vegetables chopped – 2 cups (I used carrots, pumpkin, and French beans)
- Coconut milk – 3 cups (2 cups second milk and 1 cup first milk)
- Salt – to taste
- Sugar – 1 tbsp
For the Noodles
- Noodles of your choice – 2 ounces (Traditionally egg noodles are used, but I used soba noodles)
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Salt – to taste
Condiments
- Onions – 2, large
- Garlic – 20-25 cloves
- Peanuts – 1/2 cup
- Coriander, chopped – 1/2 cup
- Spring onion, chopped – 1/2 cup
- Chilly flakes – 2 tbsp
- Lemon wedges – 5 to 6
- Oil – to fry
Method
Khow Suey Curry
- Soak the red chilies for about 10 minutes.
- In a mixer, add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, chilies, cumin seeds, and turmeric. Add 1/2 cup water and blitz.
- Heat a pan, and dry roast the gram flour for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the paste to the pan and combine. Cook for about 2 minutes. At this point, your gram flour might get a bit lumpy. Mix in the spices well and turn the heat off.
- Cool the mixture slightly, transfer to the mixer, and blitz again to a very smooth paste.
- Transfer this back to the pan, add the chopped vegetables, and about 3 cups water. Mix well and bring to a boil. Season with salt and sugar, simmer, and cook on medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the second milk of coconut, mix well, and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Pour in the first milk of coconut, mix, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Noodles
While your curry is cooking away, prep your noodles and condiments.
- Bring a pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt and cook your noodles as per the instructions on the packet. Since I used Soba noodles, I ran them under cold water to avoid them from sticking together.
- Heat oil in a pan, toss your noodles with some salt and set aside in a serving bowl.
Condiments
- Peel and chop one onion into chunky pieces. Soak in cold water for 15-20 minutes to get rid of the raw smell. Drain and set aside.
- Slice the other onion as equally as possible. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai. Add the onions and fry until brown. Blot on the kitchen towel and set aside.
- Repeat the same for garlic. Make sure you chop them in equal pieces so that the frying process is uniform.
Plating your Khow Suey
Scoop out some of the curry into a bowl, add the noodles, and play around with the condiments choosing your favourites. I chose some peanuts, lots of fried onion and garlic, some raw onion, and a dash of lemon juice.
Vegetarian Khow Suey
Ingredients
Curry
- 1 Onion medium-sized
- 1 tbsp Ginger chopped
- 1 tbsp Garlic chopped
- 2 Red chillies de-seeded
- 2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp Gram flour/ Besan
- 3 cups Coconut milk 2 cups second milk and 1 cup first milk
- 2 cup Chopped vegetables I used carrot, pumpkin and French beans
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Noodles
- 2 ounces Noodles of your choice I used Soba noodles
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
Condiments
- 2 Onions large
- 20-25 Garlic cloves
- ½ cup Peanuts
- ½ cup Coriander chopped
- ½ cup Spring onion chopped
- 2 tbsp Chilly flakes
- 5 to 6 Lemon wedges
- Oil to fry
Instructions
Curry
- Soak the red chilies for about 10 minutes.
- In a mixer, add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, chilies, cumin seeds, and turmeric. Add 1/2 cup water and blitz.
- Heat a pan, and dry roast the gram flour for 3-4 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the paste to the pan and combine. Cook for about 2 minutes. At this point, your gram flour might get a bit lumpy. Mix in the spices well and turn the heat off.
- Cool the mixture slightly, transfer to the mixer, and blitz again to a very smooth paste.
- Transfer this back to the pan, add the chopped vegetables, and about 3 cups water. Mix well and bring to a boil. Season with salt and sugar, simmer, and cook on medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
- Add the second milk of coconut, mix well, and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Pour in the first milk of coconut, mix, turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Noodles
- Bring a pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt and cook your noodles as per the instructions on the packet. Since I used Soba noodles, I ran them under cold water to avoid them from sticking together.
- Heat oil in a pan, toss your noodles with some salt and set aside in a serving bowl.
Condiments
- Peel and chop one onion into chunky pieces. Soak in cold water for 15-20 minutes to get rid of the raw smell. Drain and set aside.
- Slice the other onion as equally as possible. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai. Add the onions and fry until brown. Blot on the kitchen towel and set aside.
- Repeat the same for garlic. Make sure you chop them in equal pieces so that the frying process is uniform.
Your recipe is authentic, except in the place of cummin seeds you need to use fennel seeds(saunf), roasted and powdered, use in moderation as it has a strong flavour.
Thanks a lot, will try that next time 🙂
Lemon grass stem if added while making a paste gives a very nice taste to the khow suey
Will try next time 🙂
In coconut milk, what do you mean by first milk and second milk?
When making fresh coconut milk, the first sieve becomes the thicker first milk and another churn gives a thinner second milk