Khao Piak Sien (Laotian Fresh Rice Noodle Soup)

It's been awhile but I hope this recipe was worth the wait.

I was craving some good Laotian Khao Piak Sien and then I remembered the stewing hens in my freezer. My dad sent me home with a few stewing hens and cocks during one of my visits home. I also asked my mom to pick up some homemade pho meatballs, som moo and isaan sausage from her lady. My grandpa packed a cardboard box for me. It was inspected by TSA. I wonder what they were thinking when they searched the box.

This is one of those dishes that really benefits from a tougher old chicken although, my mom has made it with regular old whole fryers because my sister didn’t want to eat her pets.

Khao Piak Sien is a great dish to serve a crowd. We took turns cooking the meals during our snowboard/ski trip back in February. My friend was in charge of dinner day 2 and was undecided between Khao Piak Sien or Pho. She decided on the Khao Piak Sien. Everyone was glad to have a steaming bowl of Khao Piak Sien after a day on the slopes.
I was looking for a “recipe” for the homemade rice noodles. I’ve never made it all by myself before. I’ve help with the rolling and cutting but someone else always prepared the dough. I knew it involved rice flour and hot water. My mom likes to add tapioca flour for chewier noodles. I called my mom but she didn’t call me back so I texted my friend Kellie. She said, “Ask Jenny! I suck at it.” I find it funny because my Laotian friend told me to ask my Vietnamese/Chinese friend. I text Jenny and she said to use one bag red and one and a half bags green. She meant one bag regular rice flour and one and a half bags tapioca flour (not glutinous rice flour because I usually refer to glutinous rice flour as green). She said I could do a one to one ratio but she prefers the noodles chewier.

The most painstaking part is to use boiling water to mix the dough and then the rolling and cutting of the noodles. I was reading the LaoCook blog and they used a pasta machine to roll and cut their noodles. Genius. How come I’ve never thought of this? I took my pasta machine out of storage.

Khao Piak literally translates to wet rice and usually refers to the Lao version of rice porridge but I like to use the term interchangeably. The correct name is Khao Piak Sien and translates to wet rice strands.

Step 1: Make the Broth

Ingredients for Broth:
1 stewing chicken or whole fryer
water, to cover
1 piece dried galangal
1 stalk lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste

1. Cut up chicken and brown pieces in a large stock pot or dutch oven.
2. Add water and the rest of the ingredients. Slowly simmer for several hours (if using stewing chicken) or until chicken is cooked through (if using regular fryer). Meanwhile, go to Step 2 and make the rice noodles.
3. Remove chicken pieces and allow to cool. Keep the broth on a very low simmer. Shred chicken when cool enough to handle. Discard bones.

Step 2: Make the Rice Noodles

Ingredients for Noodles:
1 package (16 ounces) rice flour
1 ½ packages (21 ounces) tapioca flour
boiling hot water, enough to form dough

1. In a large bowl, mix together rice flour and tapioca flour.
2. Slowly stir in boiling water to flours until a lumpy dough forms. I use wooden chopsticks to stir everything. The dough will be HOT!
3. Form dough into a ball, turn dough on onto a flat surface and knead several minutes.

4. Now decide on the pasta machine method or rolling pin method. (If you do not have a pasta machine, proceed to the next step.) I use the thickest setting to roll out the dough and the thinnest setting to cut the noodles. I find the noodle strands too long so I cut them into approximately 5 inch segments. Dust the noodles with either rice or tapioca flour to prevent sticking.

6. The rolling pin method is a little more time consuming but this is the way I've seen most people make it. Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it about 1/8 inch thickness. Use a knife or bench scraper and cut into 1/4 inch noodles. Make sure to use either rice or tapioca flour to prevent the noodles from sticking.

Step 3: Prep the Garnish and Serve

Garnishes:
Shredded chicken meat
Green onions, sliced
Cilantro, chopped
Bean sprouts
Fried shallots or fried garlic
Fried chili in oil
Soy sauce
Lime wedges

To Serve:
This is a matter of personal preference. Some people like to put the uncooked noodles and garnishes directly into the large pot of broth and ladle out individual bowls from the communal pot. This will result in a very thick soup. I like to do it pho-style and boil the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water and strain. I prepare each bowl separately by putting the boiled noodles in individual bowls, ladling the boiling broth over the cooked noodles, and letting everyone choose their own garnish. (Shorter noodles mean you only need to spoon. If you made longer noodles, you will need chopsticks.)