A tasty Vietnamese Chicken Curry Soup with vermicelli noodles, sweet potatoes and lots of fresh herbs. A quick short-cut recipe which is perfect for mid-week meals.
One of my all-time favourite dishes is a Vietnamese Chicken Curry. My mum makes this dish using a whole chicken which is first marinated in a special mixture of Vietnamese curry powder and other seasoning, and then slowly simmered on the stove with an array of aromatics until the chicken is tender and almost falls from the bone.
Towards the end, she adds potatoes and/or sweet potatoes which has been deep-fried so that it keeps its shape in the curry, and the whole dish is served with loaves of crusty baguette (preferably from a Vietnamese bakery) to soak up the lovely curry sauce. The bread is undoubtedly French-inspired as this is one of the few Vietnamese meals which is not served with rice or noodles.
I dream constantly of my mum’s curry and, over the years, I have developed my own recipe which at least satisfies my taste buds but still falls short of my mum’s version. It is a dish which requires a bit of planning and preparation, so definitely not something I would attempt during the working week.
I was flicking through Bill Granger’s new book, Bill’s Everyday Asian, at the bookstore the other day and the first recipe which caught my eye was his Chicken Curry Soup. A quick read through the recipe and a look at the photos over the page confirmed that it was his take on this Vietnamese classic. I was sold on this one recipe. In fact, my next stop was the supermarket across the street to buy the necessary ingredients.
I tried this recipe the following evening, and the fact that this soup took about 30 minutes to make was fairly incredible for something which tasted so … authentic. I didn’t even have homemade chicken stock to hand – I simply used a chicken stock cube.
I had some water spinach leftover from another dish so I used that instead of bok choy. And anyway, I remembered that my mum sometimes added water spinach to her curry; for any leftover curry the next day, she would thin it with some coconut milk, to which she would add cooked vermicelli noodles and some water spinach, thus transforming the leftover curry into a delicious and satisfying noodle soup.
Bill Granger’s version is super-quick and super-tasty. Of course, it’s not as special as the traditional version, but it’s wonderful for during the week when time is scarce. I wonder what my mum would think of this recipe?
PrintVietnamese Chicken Curry Soup
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-3
A tasty Vietnamese Chicken Curry Soup with vermicelli noodles, sweet potatoes and lots of fresh herbs. A quick short-cut recipe which is perfect for mid-week meals.
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RateIngredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 small red onion, thickly sliced
- 1 lemongrass stalk, white part cut into short lengths
- 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder (preferably Vietnamese curry powder)
- 750 ml (3 cups) chicken stock
- 750 ml (3 cups)boiling water
- 400 ml (1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) tin of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 small chicken breast fillets (or 1 large chicken breast fillet)
- 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- small handful of water spinach, cut into short lengths
- 250 g (9 oz) vermicelli noodles
- red chillies (optional)
- coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
- limes, cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.
- Sauté the garlic, onion and lemongrass until fragrant.
- Add the curry powder and stir through.
- Add the chicken stock, boiling water, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and sea salt.
- Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer.
- Add the sweet potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes until the sweet potato is soft.
- Next add the chicken breast fillet(s) and poach for about 8 to 10 minutes until it is cooked (cook for a bit longer if you are using large chicken breast fillets).
- Meanwhile, cook the vermicelli noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Remove the chicken from the soup and slice thickly.
- Add the water spinach to the soup and cook for a few minutes until it just begins to soften.
- Place the noodles into large soup bowls with some slices of chicken, and ladle the soup over the noodles.
- Garnish with red chillies and chopped coriander.
- Serve with a squeeze of lime juice.
Kitchen Notes
Variations
You could also use pumpkin in place of sweet potato in this recipe.
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 468
- Sugar: 11.2g
- Sodium: 1814.5mg
- Fat: 7.9g
- Carbohydrates: 74.7g
- Fiber: 4.7g
- Protein: 22.2g
- Cholesterol: 42.2mg
Wonderful write up! And your photos have me salivating! Such a beautiful bowl of food! Even i wondered what your mum would think of it 🙂 I love this kind of food and have been eyeing the book too……
Carrie – I’ve been cooking from this book quite a bit lately and have been pleasantly surprised by how good the shortcuts are! I think it’s a great book and, yet again, happy to be learning some tips on Asian food from an Aussie guy 😉 I think my mum would be curious to taste the short-cut versions of her traditional favourites, but being who she is, I think she would still opt to make them the traditional way. She is someone who likes to do things the long way sometimes!
That looks beautiful… and havng read the ingredients, I might even like it ! Though I have no idea how “hot” Vietnamese curry powder is…
Thanks Liz! This curry is not spicy at all, so I think it is definitely something you would enjoy 🙂 Vietnamese curry powder is fairly mild, in my opinion. If you find yourself in an Asian grocery store – or, better still, a Vietnamese grocery store – look for a packet of curry powder with a picture of an Indian guy on it. I know, it sounds ironic but it’s the brand used in Vietnamese homes 🙂 Otherwise, I think any mild Indian curry powder would also work in this recipe.
The photos are beautiful. Looks like a light and refreshing soup.
Such a great thing I found your site! I LOVE the colours of this dish, makes me wanna make this soup asap!
delicious looking.
Wow, this CHICKEN CURRY SOUP is really impressive! Looks very tasty. I definitely want to try this! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
★★★★★
I made this for dinner tonight but with no noodles. Fantastic flavor, great recipe.
★★★★★
That’s great that you enjoyed this recipe! I also make it sometimes with the noodles and add lots of vegetables instead 🙂