Khao Piek Sen | Lao Chicken Noodle Soup
What is Lao chicken noodle soup (khao piek sen)?
Khao piek sen is one of the most popular Lao noodle soups in Laos especially in Vientiane where you can find stalls serving both the noodle and rice versions in the morning. The bowl is filled with freshly hand cut rice tapioca noodles and the broth is a fragrant ginger soup and then its garnished with all your favorite condiments and dipped with khanom kuu (Chinese donut). Below is one of my Lao recipes with different noodle texture variations.
What type of rice flour should I use?
There is some confusion when it comes to the rice flour, so make sure to always use jasmine rice flour for the majority of the mixture. Sticky rice flour will not work as it is too sticky but you can add a little bit of the sticky rice flour for different textures. I suggest getting the rice flour from Southeast Asian markets (specifically the Erawan Brand) as other brands of rice flours don’t work the same.
How to perfectly cut the rice noodles?
If you have the time, you can cut each noodle one by one. Another way to cut the noodles is through a noodle machine attachment like a Kitchen Aid. My preference to cutting khao piek sen noodles is with a handheld cutter as the noodles always come out perfectly. See the recipe below with the link to the perfect noodle cutter to save you time and also impress your friends.
Tips & Tricks in making the best Lao chicken noodle soup khao piek sen
The more you make khao piek sen, the better you will get at it.
make the best noodles by using boiling hot water and also kneading the dough together very tightly
don’t add too much water or else your noodles will fall apart
use bone in chicken pieces as it will help create a delicious chicken bone broth
freshly fried garlic and shallots make a big difference in the broth
buy freshly made khanom khuu (Chinese donuts) to save you time
Khao Piek Sen | Lao Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the rice flour and tapioca flour then whisk.
- Add boiling hot water to the flour mixture and quickly mix
- The mixture will look dry but keep mixing with the spoon until it is warm enough to touch with your hands
- Knead with the hands and press all the flours together. The dough should be firm. If the dough is crumbly, add a tbsp of hot water and knead until it becomes a ball.
- Sprinkle area with rice flour then roll out the dough and dust with extra rice flour
- Cut off the rough edges then cut in half and half again
- Stack layers on top of each other then cut into desired noodle consistency. Dust with extra rice flour. Wrap in plastic wrap if you’re not cooking it right away.
- Cook noodles for about 2-3 minutes in boiling water
- Prepare the broth aromatics: lightly crush the garlic, minced shallots, halved yellow onion, bruised cilantro roots, bruised galangal slices, bruised lemongrass, lightly squeezed lime leaves.
- Cut up the whole chicken with bone on.
- In the pot, heat the stove on high then add the cooking oil. Add the aromatics; saute the aromatics until lightly golden.
- Add the chicken pieces and saute until the skin browns then add the water before aromatics start burning.
- Season with fish sauce, black pepper, and salt.
- Bring the broth to a boil then let it simmer and cover with a lid for 1 hour.
- Strain the broth out and hand shred the chicken meat.
- Place the cooked noodles into a serving bowl.
- Add the desired amount of broth.
- Garnish with lime, fried garlic, fried shallots, chili oil, more fish sauce to taste, cilantro, green onions, and sriracha
