• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Tara's Multicultural Table

  • Index
  • International Recipes
  • Travel
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Policies

Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup)

19 March, 2015 by Tara 8 Comments

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

A recipe for Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup)! Noodles are served in a flavorful chicken coconut broth spiced with turmeric and thickened with garbanzo bean flour.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup) in a white bowl next to lime wedges.

Ohn No Khauk Swe

Ohn No Khauk Swe (ohn no khao swè, ohn no kauk swe) is a Burmese noodle dish with a spiced chicken coconut broth. This is a great curry for those who don’t like a lot of heat. I was able to keep it lighter for myself and topped Chad’s with the red chili powder to his taste. This recipe uses thin egg noodles, but I have seen others with rice noodles.

Pat Tanumihardja cooking soup, rice, and noodles.

The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

I found this recipe for Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup) in The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens, written by Pat Tanumihardja. I actually had the opportunity to meet Pat a few months ago. We recently moved to Virginia and I was looking over the calendar of events at a nearby Whole Foods. Her name was listed under a cooking demonstration for Healthy Asian Takeout at Home.

During the demo, she prepared the following recipes from her cookbook: Suan La Tang (Hot and Sour Soup), Wok-Fried Bok Choy, Pad Gkaprow Mu (Thai Basil Pork), and Long-Life Noodles. It was so great to be able to see her in action and bring the recipes to life. Pat also has this blog: Pickles and Tea via the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Close up of Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup) with hard boiled eggs.

A Few Tips

When mixing the chicken into the sauce, wear gloves to keep your nails from being stained yellow by the turmeric.

Don’t skimp on the garnishes. They definitely add to the meal. I topped the soup with sliced hard boiled eggs, soaked yellow onions, green onions, limes, and cilantro (I omitted the red pepper on my bowl due to pregnancy heartburn). Other possible garnishes include fried noodles, fried onion or shallots, and bean fritters.

Notable Ingredients

Fish sauce (nam pa, nam pla, nuoc mam, patis) is a condiment popular in Southeast Asian cooking. It is created by slowly fermenting fish (generally anchovies) in a salt water mixture, then pressing to produce a thin liquid. It has quite the strong smell, but provides a savory umami flavor. Brands from different countries will vary a bit in taste and quality. Fish sauce is available in most Southeast Asian markets and even some larger grocery stores. Be sure to check the ingredient list first. The good ones should only contain anchovies, salt, and water.

Garbanzo bean flour (besan, chickpea flour, gram flour) is a popular component in Burmese cuisine. It is made by grinding garbanzo beans into a powder and is used as a thickening agent or to make Burmese tofu. I was able to find it in the gluten free section in the grocery store. It is also available in South Asian food markets and on Amazon: Bobs Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour.

Looking for more noodle-based soups?

Try my

  • Chikara Udon (Japanese Power Udon)
  • Milchnudeln (German Milk Noodles)
  • Fried Chicken Soup Noodles

Aerial view of Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup) in a white bowl.

Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup) Recipe

Adapted from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

Print Pin
4.34 from 3 votes

Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup)

A recipe for Ohn No Khauk Swe (Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup)! Noodles are served in a flavorful chicken coconut broth spiced with turmeric and thickened with garbanzo bean flour.
Course Soup
Cuisine Burmese
Keyword Burmese, chicken, coconut, Myanmar, noodle, soup, turmeric
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6 -8 Servings

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups chopped yellow onions
  • 2 teaspoons ground paprika
  • 5 cups (three 13 1/2 ounce cans) coconut milk
  • 7 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
  • 2 pounds fresh or 1 pound dried thin Chinese egg noodles

For Garnish:

  • 6 hard boiled eggs peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 4 tablespoons ground dried red chilies pan roasted until fragrant
  • 1 large sweet or red onion halved, cut into thin crescents, and soaked in water
  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro
  • 3 limes quartered
  • Fish sauce to taste

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and turmeric. Mix in the chicken using gloved hands.
  • In a large pot, drizzle oil over medium high heat. Once thoroughly heated and shimmering, add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes.
  • Mix in the paprika, then the chicken with marinade. Cook, stirring often, until all sides of chicken are browned, 4-5 minutes.
  • Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock. Stir constantly and once it begins to boil, reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the garbanzo bean flour with 1/2 cup warm water until smooth. Stir into the soup and bring to a boil. Continue to simmer over medium low heat until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes. If too thin, add more garbanzo bean flour mixed with water. If too thick, add a little more water. Season with fish sauce or soy sauce to taste. Keep over low heat until ready to serve.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook just until al dente, just tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drizzle a little oil and mix to keep the noodles from sticking.
  • Divide the noodles among serving bowls. Top with the chicken coconut soup. Garnish as desired with hard boiled eggs, red chili powder, soaked onions, cilantro, lime, and fish sauce. Serve immediately.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Filed Under: Asian, Chicken, Meat, Pasta and Rice, Soups/Salads Tagged With: asia, asian, burmese, chicken, coconut, egg, myanmar, noodle, onion, pasta, poultry, soup

Previous Post: « Irish Cream Dark Chocolate Pudding
Next Post: Mladenčići (Serbian Honey Cakes) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Winston

    26 March, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    This is an authentic Burmese recipe as my mother cooked it when I was young and living in Rangoon. Most recipes on the web tend to include lemon grass and other spices and some even curry powder !

    Reply
    • Tara

      26 March, 2020 at 8:44 pm

      So happy to hear Winston!

      Reply
  2. Michelle

    8 October, 2021 at 10:11 am

    5 stars
    Very good recipe! I actually made it low sodium due to the salt content in the fish sauce. I used coconut aminos in place of soy sauce and no salt added chicken stock. My husband is Burmese and absolutely loved it. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Tara

      10 October, 2021 at 10:26 pm

      Thank you so much Michelle! So glad you both loved it!

      Reply
  3. Briana

    9 November, 2021 at 9:37 am

    Is there a replacement for the garbanzo bean flour?

    Reply
  4. Tina

    5 July, 2022 at 7:08 am

    5 stars
    I have made this recipe more than 20 times. I was missing my travels to Burma and could not get this soup out of my head. I was once in Manchester, VT, and came across a delightful Burmese restaurant that had this (sending me straight back to bumbling around Yangon) and after Googling some of the ingredients and “Myanmar” & “Burma” I was led here. This is sincerely the most spectacular recipe. I have it bookmarked, I have hard copies printed… I will one day commit it to memory haha. It has allowed me to reminisce about my travels and I am so, so, so thankful you posted it.

    Reply
    • Tara

      13 July, 2022 at 1:40 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing Tina!

      Reply
  5. Paul

    21 July, 2022 at 9:40 am

    3 stars
    This recipe tastes fairly authentic, but for the real deal you get around Myanmar SKIP the soy sauce and just use a few pinches of salt instead. The soy sauce needlessly darkens the iconic yellow color of the broth imparted from the turmeric. My Burmese wife and mother in law who lived in Yangon for 50 years said it looks more like Mohinga (a dark fish soup also served for breakfast in Myanmar).

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Me

tarasmctable (1 of 1)

Hello and welcome to Tara's Multicultural Table! Check out the index to find recipes from around the world and learn more about me here.

Subscribe to Tara's Multicultural Table via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,154 other subscribers
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Categories

Amazon

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program and earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Tara's Multicultural Table via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,154 other subscribers

Featured Recipes:

Seven Unicorn Cupcakes on a white pedestal.
Loco Moco Pizza on a round wooden board.
Prosciutto Toast on a rectangular white plate with a balsamic glaze.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Tara's Multicultural Table on the Foodie Pro Theme