10 Minutes Khao Piek Sen Soup (Lao Chicken Noodle Soup) Recipe
Craving a bowl of comforting soup but don’t have hours to simmer a broth? This 10 minutes Khao Piek Sen Soup is the quick weeknight dinner you’ve been searching for. Packed with flavor thanks to aromatic herbs and spices, this easy Lao-style chicken noodle soup comes together in just 10 minutes. Tender chicken, veggies, and rice noodles simmer in a savory broth for a fast meal that doesn’t sacrifice any warmth or taste. With just a few simple ingredients and 10 minutes, you can treat yourself to a big bowl of happiness from the comfort of your own kitchen. This quick version of a popular Laotian comfort food is proof you don’t need to spend all day in the kitchen to enjoy a soothing, soul-satisfying soup any night of the week.
What is Khao Piek Sen Made of?
“Khao” means rice. “Piek” means wet and “Sen” means noodles in both Laos and Thai. Therefore the fresh Khao Piek Sen or the thick Lao rice noodle is made of rice flour, tapioca flour, and hot water. However, I added another tablespoon of the glutinous rice flour to the mixture to make it even more chewy and springy. However, this is optional. Also, I have seen some people from the Asian facebook community mentioned that they always make a mess with the wet dough whenever they try to make this noodle. I also learned a hard way long time ago so here’s the trick to save you from the heartache. The ratio of the rice flour, the tapioca flour, and the hot water is 1:1:1. This means that you must use the exact same cup to measure the ingredients. You can use a mug or a measuring cup but you should be using the exact same cup. Otherwise, you will end up with a very wet dough. To fix that wet dough, you’ll just need to keep adding more tapioca flour. It will still turn out, but it’s best not having to deal with this mess! The picture below may seems like a lot of steps but the whole thing is done in about 5 minutes as you do not need any dough resting time.
What Else Can You Make with Khao Piek Sen Noodles?
Besides a comforting soup, some Thai people use this noodles to as part of the “Som Tum” or papaya salad. But instead of using shredded papaya, cabbage and the Khao Piek noodle is used instead. This new dish is called “Som Tum Khao Piek” (The content in this website is in Thai. Sorry!). However, the dish has not been widely known. Maybe some of us can get creative with how we use these noodles in the near future:). Any ideas are welcome in the comment section :).
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Protein Options for this Quick Dish.
My choice of protein for this 10 Minutes Khao Piek Sen Soup recipe is a rotisserie chicken as I can use the chicken both and some fat (dripping) at the bottom to make a quick delicious broth. Moreover, the meat is cooked even before you make the noodles itself. However, if you decide to just use a store bought chicken broth, feel free to use ground chicken or ground pork for the protein as they can be cooked than less than ten minutes.
How to Store Fresh Khao Piek Noodles?
This recipe makes 4 servings and if you are living by yourself, it will be something you want to keep refrigerated. Simply dust the fresh noodles with some tapioca flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. Put the unused leftover noodles in the ziplock and refrigerated up to 3-4 days.
How to Store and Reheat the Khao Piek Sen Soup?
If you used up the noodles for the soup all at once but not able to finish the soup right away, you can keep it in an air tight container and put it in the fridge to reheat the next day. You will notice that the soup is very much thicken and there’s no broth left as the noodles absorbs the broth. You will need to add about half cup of water to the noodles in the bowl and heat it up for a minute or two on the stove or in the microwave, then re season the soup with a little bit of fish sauce or soy sauce. It will still be delicious!
Also, if you’d like to top with a flavor bomb when serving, don’t forget the chili oil, Sriracha, fish sauce, and Fried shallots. Feel free to see all the brands and recipes I used for the toppings and condiments.
10 Minutes Khao Piek Sen Soup (Lao Chicken Noodle Soup) Recipe
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 rollling pin
- 1 bench scraper or a knife
- 1 pot
Ingredients
For the Fresh Khao Piek Noodles
- 1 cup rice flour see the link for the brand that I use.
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour optional
- 1 cup boiling hot water Make sure to use the same cup that you used to measure the flour.
For the Broth or Soup
- 1 chicken bones from the rotisserie chicken
- 2 cups cooked chicken the rotisserie chicken
- 2 litres water
- 1 onion yellow or white (chopped)
- 1 stalk celery optional
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- ½ cup Shitake mushrooms fresh or dried optional
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon or pork bouillon
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
For the Toppings and Condiment
- 1 tsp chili oil per bowl or as you wish
- 1 tsp Fried shallots see the link
- green onion
- cilantro
Instructions
Make the broth
- If you decide to use the dried Shitake mushrooms in the broth, make sure to break them into small pieces and soak in hot boiling water before doing anything else. It takes sometimes to rehydrate the dried Shitake mushrooms. If you use the fresh Shitake, just add them to the water at the same time with everything else. If you do not have any mushrooms, don't worry about it. Think about vegetables that will help sweeten your broth so that you do not need to add sugar.
- Use high heat. We want everything to cook fast. Add chicken bones and fat to the water. No need to wait for the water to boil. Cut an onion into fourths or chop it. Cut a celery stalk into small pieces and add to the water. Add chicken bouillon.
Make the fresh Khao Piek Noodles
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine rice flour, tapioca flour, (and glutinous rice flour optionally). Add boiling hot water and quickly stir to combine with spatula.
- See if you can get into the dough with your hands. Usually, it takes a minute or so for the mixture to cool down. Once the mixture is warm to touch, knead the dough with your hands to form a play dough like texture. If it looks a little dry but can form the dough, don't worry. If it's too wet to handle, add a little bit of the tapioca flour at a time until you can form a dough that can be rolled out. See the video for clarification.
- Cut the dough in half and roll it out into a sheet of dough. Do not worry about making it super thin, this noodle is supposed to be a little bit thick sp just do the best you can.
- Dust the dough sheet with some tapioca flout to prevent from sticking together. Roll the dough facing you as shown in the picture above.
- Cut the dough into noodles with a bench scraper or a knife. I found it's easier with a plastic bench scraper as it is less sticky. Sprinkle some more tapioca flour again to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other. This entire process of making the noodles is about 5 minutes total.
Assemble
- Adjust the taste of the broth to your liking by adding fish sauce or salt and pepper as needed. Turn the heat down to medium and take the chicken bones out of the pot.
- Add the noodles to the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the noodles sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Plating: Top with some chopped green onion or cilantro. A little bit chili oil, fried shallot, lime juice, fish sauce, and Sriracha are highly recommended. Serve warm and enjoy!
