The Parkmont Dish: Shwe’s Ohn No Khao Swe

The week school lets out for summer break, the teachers are still working here every day, updating credit sheets, discussing the year just ended, planning for the year ahead, and, especially in this summer of Parkmont Schoolhouse Project, cleaning out the classrooms and other spaces slated for updating over the summer. In other words, lots of meetings and lots of dusty, sweaty work. Halfway through the week, Shwe made everyone’s day by bringing in a giant pot of homemade coconut noodles and all the fixings. Ohn No Khao Swe is a classic Burmese dish from Shwe’s native Myanmar. It’s a little bit spicy, a little bit tangy, and extremely comforting and delicious! Shwe kindly agreed to share her recipe with The Parkmont Dish. She also shared the lovely recipe card she made for her own collection. You may notice there are no measurements on the recipe card (see next page). That’s because Shwe relies on her senses and experience rather than set quantities. The measurements given below will result in a very tasty soup, but definitely do as Shwe does and adjust them to your taste!

Sarr kaung par sae: စားကောင်းပါစေ! (Bon appetit!)

Ohn No Khao Swe

5 servings

Soup Ingredients:

1 lb chicken thigh meat (or more, according to your preference)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 small or medium white onion, sliced

1 large or 2 small red onions, about 1 lb total

2 tsp paprika (plus more to taste)

1 tsp turmeric (plus more to taste)

½ tsp chili powder or cayenne pepper (plus more to taste)

2 cloves garlic

3 cups chicken broth or hot water

2 Tbsp chickpea flour

1 12 oz can coconut milk

1 cup evaporated milk

1 lb spaghetti

Garnish Ingredients:

2 boiled eggs, sliced

1 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Hot red pepper flakes

Lime or lemon wedges

Equipment:

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Blender or food processor

Wide pot that’s big enough to hold all ingredients

Colander

Serving bowl for the noodles

Medium bowl

Fork or whisk

Steps:

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain, rinse with cold water, lightly coat with oil to prevent sticking, set aside in the serving bowl.
2. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. If you used bone-in pieces, you can use the bones to make a light broth.
3. Blend half of the red onion and all of the garlic into a rough paste, using the blender or food processor.
   
4. Heat the oil in the wide pot over medium heat. Add the onion-garlic mixture and stir. Add the turmeric, chili powder, and paprika. You should hear it sizzle. Keep stirring to prevent burning. In a few minutes, the mixture should become fragrant.
5. Add the chicken pieces to the pot. If the color isn’t a rich yellow-red, sprinkle in a little more turmeric, chili powder, and paprika.
6. When the chicken is nearly cooked through, pour in hot water or chicken broth.
7. In a separate bowl, dissolve the chickpea flour in hot water, stirring well to avoid lumps. Pour the mixture into the pot, and stir to combine.
8. Once the broth is simmering, add the coconut milk.
9. Stir in a little evaporated milk and taste. Add more depending on how rich and creamy you want the soup to be.
10. Add sliced white onion to the broth. You can also add sliced boiled eggs to the soup or save them for garnishing.
11. Set up your assembly station: the cooked noodles, garnishes, and the hot broth
12. To serve, place a handful of noodles in a bowl, add your desired garnishes, then pour the hot broth over everything.
    

Enjoy!