This recipe calls for Vietnamese curry powder, often known as “cari,” which can be purchased at Asian grocery stores. If unavailable, substitute Madras curry powder. I like mine soupy, but if you use half as much water and chicken broth as I do, you can make a thick stew. Serve alongside French bread, rice, or both.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces
- 1 onion, cut into chunks
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ⅛ cup thinly sliced fresh ginger root
- 1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 carrots, sliced diagonally
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1 quart water
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 makrut lime leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 8 small potatoes, quartered
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir chicken and onion in hot oil until chicken is lightly browned and onion is soft and translucent; remove onion and chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Sauté shallots in drippings in the pot for about 1 minute, then stir in garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and curry powder. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in bell pepper and carrots. Return chicken and onion to the pot and stir in chicken broth, water, and fish sauce. Season with lime leaves, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring to a boil and add potatoes. Return to a boil and pour in coconut milk. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender and chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, 40 to 60 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of chicken should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Portion soup into bowls. Garnish each dish with a cilantro sprig.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 512 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 75 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 375 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made a few changes; left out the bell pepper and used ginger and lemon grass paste instead of fresh (just as good and available) Also used 7 skinless chicken thighs instead of whole chicken and didn’t have any bayleaf. I spooned the soup over a side of sticky rice..this dish is very close to the wonderful soup I used to order at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant
I did the stew version. Considering all the ingredients, the taste was too mild for our liking.
I wanted to love it. I really did. I thought the flavor was really bland. Even with all the yummy ingredients, it just needed more flavor. Also, the red chili flakes were wayyyy too much. Thank you to whomever submitted this-even though I personally didn’t like it, it appears that some people do.
I added Hot chilis for spice as well as red bell pepper. It was so good…I almost wanted to kick all the flavor a up a bit but was still an awesome dish!!!
I didn’t have lemon grass, shallots, lime leaves, or cilantro, and this still came out amazing! I also skipped the coconut milk and green bell pepper — I added extra carrot. I did have a good curry powder (S&B Oriental) and a good broth. I thicken it with a little corn starch so it sticks to rice and/or bread. The fish sauce makes this especially yummy.
Very good!! I mostly made it as is, except for I didn’t add the quart of water and I couldn’t find the kaffir lime leaves. It did taste like something was missing, but maybe it was the kaffir lime leaves.
This recipe is a mind blower! The balance of flavors is what strikes you at first spoonfull. Only change I made was from 2 down to a half teaspoon of red pepper flakes. My family can’t wait to have it again. Allrecipes is without a doubt the best recipe vault on the web.
too spicy but really good. next time i will add just 1 teaspoon of pepper flakes
too spicy but really good. next time i will add just 1 teaspoon of pepper flakes
This was an excellent recipe and I had all the ingredients in my house! A few changes: used chicken bouillion and water because I didn’t have chicken broth/stock. Did half a pound of pork stir fry strips and boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which I sauteed first before cooking chunked onion. Omitted fish sauce and added only 2.5 tbsp curry powder (again, that’s all I had). For some spice, I added half a tbsp chili flake and close to a tbsp of Rooster sauce (garlic chili sauce). Also omitted bell pepper, as truly Vietnamese mother never added such a thing to her curry soup. Simmered everything for about an hour or so and served over rice and shredded Napa cabbage. Delish! Okay, just about made my own recipe, but it turned out very nicely with this as a base. Thank you!
Ahhhh, Cari! It ain’t moms recipe but it’s purdy darn good! Thanks!
Absolutely delicious!
DELICIOUS! I loove my family’s vietnamese chicken curry and this tastes exactly like how my mom makes! I added a little dash of salt and it brought out the flavors more. i also added sriracha to spice it up. it was perfect! i ate it with french bread. YUMMY! i can’t wait to make this again.
I put this in the slow cooker with chicken breasts. I simmered the sauce ingredients with the onion and chicken all day, then about 1 1/2 hours before serving I added the vegetables (except the potatoes, left them out entirely). I added a couple basil leaves to the broth, and used lemon zest instead of lemon grass because that is what I had on hand. This soup was fantastic, my husband and I loved it!!
Excellent, tasty, spicy! Found kaffir lime leaves at a local asian grocery. The hardest part of this recipe was deboning/skinning the whole chicken. I’ll likely buy chicken pieces next time. I was also a bit confused as to why this appeared under World Cuisine, Canada, Toronto.
This came out awesome! I will take one member’s advice & cut the water & broth in half. I think I would rather have it just a little thicker next time. Although it was perfect as is. No lime/bay leaf is fine.
Excellent recipe. I’d make the following mods: use two instead of one lemon grass; light-flour( with salt, some pepper and garlic powder) the chicken before frying it — put one Tbs salt, two Tbs flour in a bag with chicken and shake it to get some coating veil; put fried chicken in boiling water to seal flavor — skim off scums at boil, And then later add chicken broth.
I used basil leaves instead of kaffir lime leaves as suggested by one reviewer. Also halved the spices and still found it quite hot. It’s yummy though so I think I would tweak it a bit more next time. Probably would put the bell peppers later than specified as they came out overcooked.
Wonderful! I doubled the vegetables and coconut milk and took out the water, which made for a thicker soup/stew. I also cooked it for about an hour and a half to make sure the potatoes were soft. It went great with the recommended french bread!
Served this to my bookclub gals. They loved it. I made it up a day ahead and the vegetables were a little bit softer than I would like but the flavors were outstanding.
Great soup! I used 2 potato and 1 rutabaga. The store I shop at did not have lime leaves, still wonderful.