Spicy Thai Curry Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

I am obsessed with Thai food. I love the rich tapestry of flavors in each dish - the combination of sweet, salty, sour, and savory. I love the textures - juicy lime, crunchy peanuts, silky noodles. So, when I saw this recipe for Spicy Thai Curry Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato in Bon Appetit, I knew I had to make it!

I changed a few things from the original recipe - namely that I made my own curry paste (because I do a lot of Thai-inspired cooking anyway) and that I used chicken breast instead of thighs, since that's what I had on hand.

Recipes:

Yellow Curry Paste 

Original recipe from About.com

Ingredients:

3 T lemongrass (I cheated and used the prepared kind from a tube)
1 tsp sambal oelek
1 shallot
1/4 of a red onion
2 inch piece of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 T fish sauce
3/4 tsp turmeric
2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp white sugar
1 T lime juice
1 T tomato paste

1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor until pureed.

Spicy Thai Curry Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

Garlic, shallots, and ginger

Rice noodles pre-soak

Rice noodles post-soak

Ingredients:

3 T minced shallot

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 T prepared lemongrass or finely minced fresh lemongrass

2 T freshly grated ginger

3 T yellow curry paste

2 T curry powder

1 T sambal oelek

1 can coconut milk, divided

6 C chicken broth

2 1/2 T fish sauce

2 T white sugar

1 T brown sugar

3 C frozen snow peas

1 large cubed sweet potato

3/4 LB chicken breast, sliced

1 LB rice noodles.

1. In a large soup pot, saute shallots, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger for 1 minute, or until fragrant.

2. Stir in yellow curry paste, curry powder, and sambal oelek. Cook 1 minute.

3. Add half of the coconut milk, stirring well, until thick and fragrant.

4. Add remaining coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce, and sugars. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

5. Lower heat slightly and add cubed sweet potato. Cook for 5 minutes. 

6. Bring to a simmer. Add sliced chicken and cook until done, about 10 minutes.

7. Add snow peas and cook 3-5 minutes.

8. Make the rice noodles: Put the dried noodles in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles, and let them soak for about 8 minutes, or until al dente.

9. Add noodles to bowls. Pour soup over noodles. Garnish with cilantro, sliced red onion, sliced jalapeno, green onion, extra sambal olek, and pickled radishes (sliced radishes + rice vinegar, sugar, and sambal oelek, left to marinate in the fridge for 2-3 days).

Finished product: A little spicy, a little sour, a little sweet, richly flavored broth and delightfully crunchy garnish.