Recipe: Thai Coconut Noodle Soup

I love Thai food. Spicy, fragrant, fresh, it’s one of my favourites. I’ve made my own Thai curries from scratch, but I’m also a fan of ready-made pastes. And here a bought paste means I can create a bowl of steaming noodle soup in twenty minutes.

Yep, twenty minutes before sitting on your fireplace taking photos as its the only damn place in the house with half-decent lighting at night…
comforting, it’s got lip-tingly heat from the chilli, slurpiness from the noodles, crunch from the carrots and fragrant from the lime and ginger. The veg add enough nutrients that it feels healthy, but to me this is a hug in a bowl. Almost as good as a mac’n’cheese.

I’ve used leftover roast chicken here, but I’ve also made this with prawns – I almost prefer this as the sweetness of the prawns goes perfectly with the fiery heat of the red curry. Whatever you choose, it’s up to you!

Ingredients

• 1-2 teaspoons of red curry paste
• 50g wide rice noodles
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• 1/2 pepper, sliced
• 1 small handful of leftover cooked chicken, or prawns, or any other meat you fancy
• 1/2 carrot, cut into thin strips (hello julienne peeler!)
• A handful of cabbage, sliced thinly
• 1/2 carton of Alpro’s Coconut Cuisine*

Put a full kettle on to boil whilst you prep your veg. Place the noodles in a large saucepan before pouring over boiling water. Let them soak for 8 minutes.

Meanwhile fry the curry paste in a dry pan, befoe adding the onion slices. Stir-fry until softening, then add the pepper and meat and fry until warmed through. Add in the coconut cuisine (it’s slightly thinner than coconut milk, making it perfect in a soup) and lower the heat.

Warm until just below boiling point, before adding the carrot and cabbage. Drain the noodles and add them to the soup, ensure everything is piping hot and serve.

If you fancy making this extra indulgent, a small spoon of peanut butter stirred through gives it a delicious satay twist! It’s also great at using up leftover veg – mushrooms, beansprouts, green beans and sweetcorn all work brilliantly. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite after-lecture dinners…

Be warned, it does get messy eating this! What’s your go-to quick meal?