As far as noodle soups are concerned, khao soi has still not received its proper due in the U.S. While ramen, udon, soba, and even pho have gotten lots of mainstream airtime, northern Thailand’s famed curry noodle soup is the lesser known classic with a cult following.
Among the fans of the dish is chef Leah Cohen, a Top Chef alum and the restaurateur behind Pig & Khao and Piggyback in New York City. Cohen, who is of Filipino descent, spent time traveling and cooking her way through Southeast Asia. She fell in love with Thailand, in particular, and says she now ends up going as much as she goes to the Philippines.
It was during these extensive travels to Asia that Cohen first tried khao soi. After she had it three days in a bowl, it made such a lasting impression that Cohen decided to include it on the menu at Pig & Khao when it opened in 2012. Exactly one decade later, it remains one of the restaurant’s best-selling dishes.
“This dish, for me, encompasses Thai food in a bowl,” Cohen says. “It’s got strong pungent flavors that are fighting each other, but all come together in the end to create a beautiful dish.”
In Thailand, khao soi is typically served as a lunchtime street food. There are also versions of the dish in Laos and Myanmar, but they're substantially different. The Thai version employs a flavorful base similar to yellow coconut curry, except thinner and soupier. But the star of the show is the duo of noodles: crispy fried noodles, layered over chewy boiled noodles—which combine to perfectly soak up the salty, sweet, spicy, and citrusy broth.
At Pig & Khao, Cohen serves a faithfully classic rendition of the dish, opting for red curry paste along with fish sauce, palm sugar, and Thai chili flakes in its base. According to Cohen, the secret weapon in her recipe is the curry paste, which fuses dried red Thai chiles, fresh red Thai chiles, garlic, galangal, shallots, lemongrass, and shrimp paste.
And when it's ready to serve, top everything off with punchy fermented mustard greens, chopped cilantro, and lots of lime. Serve it with a big soup spoon (like the one you’d use for pho) along with chopsticks.
