Red Curry Noodle Soup

Creamy, spicy, savory, coconutty…this soup is possibly one of the best things I’ve ever made. My family definitely agrees – whenever I make this, it’s gone in a day! It’s a great comfort food for winter and also great to make in the summer, since I always crave spicy food in the summer. I love this soup so much!

The inspiration for this recipe came from the Southeast Asian dish laksa, which I read about in Crazy Rich Asians. (Anyone else a fan? I liked the books better than the movies, if just for how much they talked about Southeast Asian cuisine. 🙂 ) Laksa is a soup made with Hokkien mee (egg noodles) or rice noodles in a spicy broth. There are many different variations of laksa throughout Southeast Asia. One version, asam laksa, is made with fish and tamarind. Another, more well-known type of laksa is curry laksa, which contains shrimp paste and coconut milk. After reading about laksa, I really wanted to try it, but my family has not been able to visit Southeast Asia. So I tried making it myself at home, with as many of the proper ingredients as I could find, and I loved it! Since I had to make a lot of substitutions (lime juice for kaffir lime, ginger for galangal, red curry paste for laksa paste, etc,) I know I can’t consider it laksa. And that’s okay! It’s still delicious, and I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. Although, if you do get the chance, you should try the authentic laksa!

Ingredients

This noodle soup has a pretty long ingredient list, but don’t let that intimidate you – many of them are garnishes. And the ingredients all come together to create an amazingly complex soup, so it’s worth it!

Soup Base

The soup base has ingredients that add savoriness, sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and spiciness to make it perfectly balanced. However, feel free to adjust quantities to taste. If you like your broth extra-savory, you can also add in some dried shrimp.

• Ginger
• Garlic
• Shrimp stock, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• Red curry paste
• Coconut milk
• Lime juice
• Fish sauce
• A pinch of sugar (palm sugar or brown sugar)

Noodles

You can use any type of noodle you like in this dish. I like flat rice noodles for their chewiness, but you can also use rice vermicelli, egg noodles, wheat noodles, or even ramen if you want. The noodles are cooked separately from the broth so they don’t absorb too much of it. Cook the noodles somewhat al dente before adding them to the soup so that they don’t end up overcooked.

Garnishes

The garnishes or mix-ins you can add run the gamut from cilantro to clams. My recipe only calls for the basics:

• Shrimp
• Tofu puffs
• Fish cakes (you can also use sliced fish balls)
• Bean sprouts
• Lime wedges
• Cilantro
• Halved boiled eggs (which go surprisingly well with the broth!)

However, you can also add other seafood (fish, cockles, etc.), chicken, tofu, vegetables like green beans, carrots, and snow peas, or anything else you think of! The best red curry noodle soup is a bowl heaped with toppings and mix-ins.

Making Red Curry Noodle Soup

This recipe is actually pretty straightforward. You’ll start by sauteing the aromatics and the red curry paste in some oil until they are fragrant. Then add the coconut milk and broth and simmer so the flavors can meld. Add in the tofu puffs and fish cakes and let them simmer with it to absorb the flavors. While the soup is simmering, you can prepare the noodles and all of your garnishes. Boil your noodles in a separate pot. Cook some shrimp, slice some limes, wash some cilantro and bean sprouts, then serve up a big bowl of red curry noodles with all the fixings! So delicious, and so good!

Tips

• If you’re using rice noodles, follow package directions on pre-soaking them — different thicknesses of rice noodles may have different cooking instructions.
• Don’t cook your noodles all the way through before adding them to the soup — they will finish cooking in the broth.
• Halve the fried tofu puffs to allow them to absorb more soup. When you bite down on one, the soup just gushes out — it’s so delicious!
• Season the broth to taste! If it needs to be more sour, add some more lime! If it needs to be sweeter, add a pinch more sugar! You can also add dried shrimp for an extra savory boost, and some chili paste like sambal oelek if you want more spice.
• Eat this soup while it’s fresh! If you let it sit too long, the noodles can absorb the broth and get soggy, which nobody likes.

Red Curry Noodle Soup

A deliciously complex noodle soup, perfect comfort food!

Prep Time: 10 min	Cook Time: 30 min
Total Time: 40 min	Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 small slice ginger (about 1/2 cm thick), minced
• 2 tsp (about 3 cloves) minced garlic
• 3 tbsp red curry paste (add more if you like more spice!)
• 13.5 oz can coconut milk (full-fat is best)
• 3-5 cups shrimp, chicken, or vegetable stock (depending on how brothy you like your soup)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 package thick rice noodles, dried (or any type of noodle you prefer)
• 10-12 large shrimp
• 1/2 package fried tofu puffs, halved
• 4 oz sliced fish cakes or fish balls
• 3 eggs, hard-boiled to preferred doneness of yolk (I personally love a jammy 6-1/2 minute egg) and halved
• 2 cups mung bean sprouts
• 1 lime, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• Sambal oelek chili paste (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, saute shrimp until cooked. Remove from the pot and place aside.
2. Soak dried rice noodles in enough warm water to cover them, for 30 minutes. (Follow the instructions on the package if they direct otherwise.)
3. While the noodles are soaking, in the same pot you used for the shrimp, add the cooking oil and saute the minced ginger and garlic over medium heat until aromatic.
4. Add in the red curry paste, and fry until fragrant.
5. Pour in the coconut milk. Stir and let come to a simmer, or until you can see red flecks in the coconut milk.
6. Add in the stock. Bring to a boil on high heat, then turn down the heat back to medium. Add the tofu puffs and fish cakes, and let simmer for 10-20 minutes.
7. When the noodles are done soaking, bring another pot of water to a boil, and cook the rice noodles until cooked but not too soft. Add the noodles to the soup base.
8. Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar, adjusting quantities to taste.
9. Turn off the heat. Serve into bowls, topping each bowl with a wedge of lime, mung bean sprouts, a few of the cooked shrimp, some cilantro, one egg half, and optional chili paste to taste.
10. Enjoy a delicious bowl of noodle soup hot off the stove!

Notes

This recipe is gluten-free if you use rice noodles. To make it vegetarian/vegan, use vegetable stock and vegetarian fish sauce. Omit the shrimp, fish cakes, and eggs as needed.