Thai Red Curry and "Kanom Jean"

I've been craving red curry served on top of "kanom jean" (thin somen noodles) that my family eats all the time, especially at holiday parties. My auntie usually makes a big pot of red curry and a big bowl of "kanom jean" prepared into coiled mounds. Since the curry is always meat based I haven't been able to partake in this wonderful marriage of foods. There's something about the noodles that works so well with the curry. They provide a soft, neutral cushion of slippery noodle goodness for the spicy curry that rice doesn't quite do. The only problem is that it goes down so well, you can eat bowl after bowl very easily!


Little coiled mounds of cooked "kanom jean".


My curry was made with coconut milk, chickpeas, zucchini, baby corn and thai red curry paste. I served it with a side of miso sesame coleslaw to extinguish the heat!

Red Curry with Chickpeas

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 heaping tsp thai red curry paste (the more you use the spicier it will be!)
1 14oz. can coconut milk
1 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp rhizome (krachai) powder (If you can't find this, it's ok. But if you can, use it. It really lends an authentic flavor to kanom jean curry.)
1 zucchini, sliced into small pieces
1 14oz. can baby corn, drained
1 14oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 TB mushroom soy sauce or 2 TB regular soy sauce

Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add red curry paste and saute for few minutes. Add coconut milk and water and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve currry paste. Add vegetables, chickpeas, sugar and rhizome powder. Lower heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with soy sauce.

Psst...I edited the recipe to include rhizome powder which is one ingredient that I forgot about. I didn't put it in my curry at first but the next day, I heated up the leftovers and added the rhizome powder and it made it even more perfect!