Burmese Khow Suey- noodle dish with coconut milk soup and served with an assortment of toppings like fried garlic, fried onion, cilantro etc. The dish is traditionally made with meat but this vegan version includes veggies like mushrooms, carrots cooked in the coconut milk flavored soup!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: Not specified
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Burmese

Ingredients

  • 5 oz noodles (I use ching hakka noodles, or use any egg noodles)

For the paste

  • 2 inch ginger (roughly chopped)
  • 9-10 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (I used avocado oil)
  • 2 stalks lemongrass (chopped (after removing hard outer layer))
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Coconut Broth

  • 2 tablespoons oil (I used avocado oil)
  • 3 whole dried red chilies
  • 15 curry leaves
  • 2 x 13.5 oz can coconut milk (I used Chakoh brand, one can full fat and one lite)
  • 4-5 oz mushrooms (sliced)
  • 2 carrots (cut into rounds)
  • 1/2 cup sweet corn (I used frozen)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 small lime (juice of)

Toppings

  • 2-3 tablespoons oil (for frying)
  • 4-5 large garlic cloves (sliced)
  • 1 medium onion (sliced)
  • chopped cilantro
  • chopped green onions
  • roasted peanuts
  • red chili flakes
  • lime wedges

Method

  1. Boil the noodles according to instructions on the package. I used Ching's Veg Hakka Noodles and boiled according to instructions on the package and then drained using a colander.
  2. To a blender add ginger, garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, lemongrass, cilantro and turmeric powder. Grind to a smooth paste and set aside.
  3. Press saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add 2 tablespoons oil and then add broken dried red chilies and curry leaves. Saute for few seconds.
  4. Then add the ground ginger-garlic-lemongrass-cilantro paste to the pot. Saute for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Add in the coconut milk. As you can see in the pictures above, the bottom of the pot burnt a bit while stirring the paste so after you add coconut milk, use a wooden spatula to scrape the bottom. Make sure there's no brown bits and nothing stuck at the bottom of the pot.
  6. Then add the veggies (mushrooms, carrots, sweet corn) and the salt.
  7. Add in the vegetable broth.
  8. Close the lid and press the manual or pressure cook button. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Quick release the pressure.
  9. Open the lid and squeeze in fresh lime juice. If the soup looks thick, you may add more veg broth at this point.
  10. For the toppings- heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Then fry sliced garlic until golden and crispy. Remove on paper and then in the same oil fry the sliced onions until golden brown.
  11. To serve Khow Suey, place the coconut soup in a large bowl and add the boiled noodles. Top with fried garlic, fried onion, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, red chili flakes and lime wedge. Serve hot!

Stove-top Instructions

  1. To make the dish on stove-top, boil the noodles as directed. To make the broth, follow the same steps and after adding the veggies, coconut milk and broth, cover and cook for around 10 minutes until veggies are done. Then squeeze in lime juice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.