Khao Soi is a Northern Thai noodle soup, packed full of flavour. It's spicy, it's fresh, it's fragrant, there is so much going on - you'll love it. The base of the soup is pretty similar to a red curry so to keep things simple, I've just used our brilliant Thai red curry paste. As a slight twist, I made chicken meatballs, rather than using traditional thigh joints - you can also easily use pork mince. Whilst you can marinade chicken to add flavour, a meatball has all the aromatics bound together with the meat - think of them as flavour bombs within the soup. If you want to keep things vegetarian, pan-fried chunks of aubergine are really lovely.

The choice of noodles here is pretty much up to you, I've used thick Udon noodles which are wheat based, Rice noodles which are gluten free would also be really good as would or our lovely Ramen Noodles.

Topping your soup with fresh ingredients - crunchy peanuts, fragrant herbs and squeezing over zingy lime juice is really important, it adds all those extra flavour dimensions that makes the dish so satisfying to eat. This can be fairly interchangeable too, I've used broccoli here but you could use bok choi, cabbage, kale, whatever's in season.

Serves 4
For the Chicken Meatballs
750g Chicken Mince (or pork mince)
A 2-3 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated (don't be shy with the ginger)
4 Cloves of Garlic, finely grated
2 Spring Onions, finely sliced
1tbsp Coriander Stalks, finely sliced
Zest of 1 Lime
Salt & Pepper
A little cold pressed rapeseed oil for frying

For the Khao Soi Soup
4tbsps Thai Red Curry Paste
400ml Coconut Milk
500ml Chicken Stock
1 x Yellow Bell Pepper, diced into 1'' pieces

The Noodles
400g Udon Noodles (or Rice Noodles or Ramen Noodles)

The Toppings
100g Unsalted Blanched Peanuts, toasted and lightly crushed
1 Red Chilli, finely sliced
Bunch of Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped
Bunch of Fresh Basil, leaves picked and torn up
3 x Spring Onions
1 Lime, cut into wedges
120g Bean Sprouts
180g Tender Stem Broccoli, steamed until tender

1. To make the meatballs, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, give them a good mix and form them into little golf ball sized balls.

2. Prepare all the toppings - roast the peanuts, steam the broccoli, slice the chillies, slice the spring onions and cut the limes. Also, boil a kettle and make up the chicken stock.

3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil to blanch the noodles.

4. In a wide pan or wok, fry the meatballs in a little oil so they are nicely browned. Remove from the pan and set to one side. You may find it easier to cook them in batches to avoid overcrowding in the pan.

5. In the same pan, fry the yellow pepper for 2 or 3 minutes and then add the Thai Red Curry Paste. Cook this for a few minutes to release all the flavours then add the coconut milk and chicken stock.

6. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and add the meatballs back in. Simmer for around 7-8 minutes.

7. Blanch the noodles according the packet instructions and drain. Then divide them between 4 bowls. Add in the blanched broccoli and a small handful of bean sprouts.

8. Ladle over the soup and meat balls then top with chopped coriander, ripped basil leaves, peanuts, spring onions and chilli. Squeeze over some lime and get stuck in.

Enjoy! Foodies, don't forget to tag us @Somerset.Foodie (Instagram) or @SomersetFoodie (Facebook) if you make this at home.

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