The Best Khao Piak Sen - Easy Lao Chicken Noodle Soup

Every Culture has their own version of chicken soup and Khao Piak Sen is the Laotian version of Chicken Noodle Soup, is the ultimate comfort food.

This Khao Piak was inspired by my Beef Pho Recipe, and Ka Soy Noodles.

I promise you, This Khao Piak is not like any other chicken soup out there. Dare I say that this is my favorite type of chicken noodle soup? The broth is made of simple ingredients, but the chewy tapioca noodles cooked in the broth itself gives this dish its signature, thick, soul warming, soup broth.

Making HAND ROLLED NOODLES doesn't have to be difficult or complicated. Khao Piak noodles only require TWO ingredients, and water!

Khao Piak Sen translates into wet rice strands or noodles which is exactly what they are. Khao Piak is made of Tapioca Starch and Rice Flour. While we do need to make our own noodles, at least we can cook the noodle cooked into the broth directly and we can save a step there.

There are a FEW OPTIONAL SHORTCUTS we can take to simplify the recipe. The hand cut noodles are a must, but you will be shocked at how these noodles REALLY bring the soup together.

Instead of cooking chicken with soup and broth, and deboning, you can buy a rotisserie chicken and use all ready made chicken broth instead of adding water to the broth. Shred the precooked chicken, and boil the aromatics in the soup, and you won't be missing out on the original flavors at all. If you are not making the chicken broth, you can omit the Totole Chicken Powder and salt, but still add the , 1 tbsp Mushroom Seasoning and 2 tbsp Fish Sauce. Once the soup is ready, then add salt to taste if needed. Then you just have to tackle making the noodles and preparing the garnishes.

Ingredients For Khao Piak

For the Soup

• 3 lbs Chicken or 1 Rotisserie chicken
• 1 32oz Chicken Broth
• 8 cups Water
• 1 tbsp Garlic (minced)
• 2 Onions
• 1 Shallots
• 1 slice Ginger
• 1 tbsp Totole Chicken Powder
• 1 tbsp Mushroom Seasoning
• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
• 1 tbsp Salt

For the Noodles

• 1 16oz Bag of Rice Flour
• 1 16oz Bag of Tapioca Starch plus additional for dusting
• 5.5 cups Boiling Hot Water

For the Garnish

• 3 stalks Green onions
• ¼ bundle Cilantro
• Fried Garlic
• Chili oil

Instructions for Khao Piak

For the Soup

• Heat a pan to medium, add oil and 1 tablespoon minced garlic.
• Add your chicken and brown on all sides before adding 32 oz of Chicken broth and 12 cups of water.
• Add 2 onions, 2 shallots, and ginger into the pot. Then add 1 tbsp Totole Chicken Powder, 1tbsp Mushroom Seasoning, 2 tbsp Fish Sauce, and 1 tbsp Salt.
• Bring to a boil and simmer for around 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
• Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken into a bowl to cool down, and dispose of the aromatics.
• Once the chicken has cooled down, shred the chicken and set aside.

Making the Noodles

• Combine 1 bag of 16oz Rice Flour and 1 bag of 16 oz Tapioca Starch (reserve 2-3 tablespoon for dusting) into a mixing bowl. Mix well.
• Bring 5.5 cups of water to a rapid boil, and combine with the flour mixture 2 cups at a time. The water must be boiling hot when added to the flour mix or the noodles will break apart while cooking.
• Use a spatula or rice paddle to combine the flour with water. Optionally, you can also use a stand mixer to mix the dough together. The dough will look a little clumpy and dry and thats totally fine. If the dough is too smooth and soft, the noodles will deteriorate when cooking.
• Once the dough has slightly cooled enough to handle with your hands, Prepare a clean working space. Divide the dough in half or thirds , and dust the dough and working space with tapioca starch.
• Roll out the dough into a long rectangular shape about ¼" thick. To make the cutting easier, you can fold the dough in half lengthwise.
• My favorite way to cut the dough is using a dough cutter. It cuts quickly and doesn't stick the way a knife or pizza cutter sometimes can.
• Place the cuts around ¼" apart to form a square shaped noodle.
• Once the noodles are cut, dust again with tapioca starch and set aside. Repeat until all the noodles are fully cut.

Prepare the Garnishes

• Wash and cut the green onion and cilantro if using

Cooking the noodles

• Pour about 3 cups of soup broth into a smaller pot. Bring to a boil and add the noodles in. Cook for 3 minutes. At the 3 minute mark the noodles will have a bit of foam come to the top of the soup. Skim out the foam and the noodles are ready.
• Transfer the noodles and soup into a bowl and garnish with chicken, green onions, cilantro, Fried Garlic and Chili oil (optional)

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