This authentic Malaysian Chicken Noodle Soup recipe features a warm, rich broth with silky-juicy chicken. Slippery fresh rice noodles and snappy shrimp. Recipe is from Chef Robert Danhi’s cookbook, James Beard Foundation Book Award Finalist!
Why this is the best recipe:
- Chef Robert Danhi been traveling and studying Southeast Asian cooking for over 20 years.
- His cookbook, Southeast Asian Flavors Cookbook, is a James Beard Foundation 2009 Cookbook Finalist in the international category.
- Slow poaching the chicken ensures that the meat is juicy tender and never overcooked.
- This practically fool-proof technique for making delicious chicken and chicken soup is the same technique that I use for Hainanese Chicken & Rice Recipe.
How to make Malaysian Chicken Noodle Soup:
- Make the chicken broth by slow-poaching a whole chicken.
- When the chicken is perfectly cooked, remove the chicken, pull off all the meat and set aside for later. Return bones to the stockpot to simmer to intensify the soup.
- Add the poached chicken, cooked rice noodles, vegetables into each serving bowl. Ladle in the chicken soup.
Why slow-poach the chicken?
This method of poaching involves bringing the pot to a boil and then turning off the heat (keep the lid on!) and let the chicken slowly, gently poach in the very hot water until cooked through. It’s almost impossible to overcook the chicken this way, and you’ll get a very silky texture.
Once the chicken is cooked through, lift the chicken carefully out of the poaching broth (which now becomes the base for your soup!)
Immediately plunge the chicken in ice-water to stop the cooking process and firm up the skin.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, you’ll use your hands to shred/pull the meat.
Whether you keep or discard the skin is up to you (I personally love the skin.) You won’t be using all of the meat for this Malaysian Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe – reserve the rest for another meal.
Tip: Try to get a small chicken, if your chicken is larger than 3.5 pounds, you will have to increase your poaching time. If your chicken is over 4 pounds – once you’ve finished your 45 gentle poach, return the pot to a boil and immediately turn off the heat. Let the pot sit for another 5 minutes, then check for doneness.
What type of noodles for this dish?
I love using fresh rice noodles that you can find in the Asian markets (refrigerated section). If they are super-fresh they don’t need to be boiled…just soak them in warm water until softened.
If they are still a bit hard, try soaking them in hot water for a few seconds. If you don’t have access to fresh rice noodles, then use dried, wide rice noodles and follow the instructions on the package for soaking/cooking times.
Southeast Asian Flavors Cookbook
Southeast Asian Flavors Cookbook is a must-have in your Asian cookbook collection.
The recipes authentic – Danhi has been traveling and studying Southeast Asian cooking for over 20 years.
The book also includes anecdotes about the culture and history of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
Malaysian Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SOUP AND CHICKEN
- 1 whole chicken 3 to 3.5 lbs
- 2 inch fresh ginger cut into 1/2 inch slices and lightly smashed
- 1 onion large, cut in quarters
- 6 cloves garlic smashed
- 12 white peppercorns crushed with mortar/pestle or side of knife (or 6 black peppercorns)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
FOR THE SOUP GARNISHES
- 1 pound fresh rice noodles about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm.) (1.3 cm.) wide
- 1/2 pound shrimp small
- 1/2 pound Chinese greens such as choy sum, bok choy, yu choy or gai-lan
- 2 scallions chopped
FOR THE CHILI-SOY SAUCE
- 4 to 6 Thai bird chilies or other small hot chilies, sliced thinly, about 1/8inch thick
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Instructions
FOR THE SOUP AND CHICKEN
- Make Chicken Broth: Place rinsed chicken in 2-gallon pot (8 L.), with just enough water to cover. Bring to a vigorous boil; lower to simmer. Skim off foam and impurities; simmer 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat, cover tightly, and leave undisturbed at room temperature for 45 minutes (an instant-read thermometer should read 165F / 74 C at the thickest part of the chicken).
- Carefully lift chicken from poaching liquid and plunge into a large container/pot/bowl of ice water. Leave in water for 15 minutes to stop cooking and firm up meat. Using your hands, pull off skin and discard.
- Pull meat off breast and thighs into 1/4to 1/2-inch (.6 to 1.3 cm.) thick strips, transfer to covered container and reserve at room temperature (you will have more than needed for the recipe).
- Combine bones, thighs and poaching liquid back in the pot. Add ginger, onion, garlic, peppercorns and salt; simmer one hour to make a broth. Strain through fine wire mesh sieve. Taste and season well with salt.
FOR THE SOUP GARNISHES
- Soak noodles in lukewarm water 10 minutes, drain; peel apart into individual strands. Poach shrimp in chicken broth until just cooked; peel, devein and halve lengthwise. Blanch whole bunches of choy sum in boiling water; transfer to a bowl of ice water for 30 seconds, squeeze dry, and cut into 2 to 3-inch pieces (5 to 7 cm.).
FOR THE CHILI SOY SAUCE
- Combine soy sauce, sesame oil and chilies, spoon mixture into individual bowls for each person.
ASSEMBLY OF MALAYSIAN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP BOWLS
- Bring seasoned broth up to a near boil. Have all ingredients ready, and have a pot of water boiling to reheat the noodles.
- Reheat noodles in boiling water for 15 seconds. Drain, and distribute into 4 to 6 Asian soup bowls. Top noodles with chicken meat, shrimp, and choy sum. Ladle about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of broth into each bowl.
- Sprinkle with scallions; serve with small dishes of chili-soy sauce. This sauce is used for dipping the subtly-flavored chicken, but can also be added to the soup.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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Gives me inspiration – thank you! My husband always cooked but now I absolutely love to after following you and watching your videos and following you on Instagram 🙂
This recipe looks cool. I will definable going to cook it. Hope I will be able to make soup just like it appears in the image.
Hi there,
Thanks for your best article about malaysian chicken noodle soup ipoh sar hor fun.
Keep your good job.
seems like ive found another go to recipe for a nice chicken noodle soup on a chilly day 🙂
I can call magnificent! to this chicken soup, looks and must taste excellent
You aren�t alone eating cookies while editing photos or reading posts, is very common on me too, my keyboard remembers the crumbs often�
Thank you
Very good!
Will try!!!
This is a bi weekly go-to meal when I’m short on time. We really love it! Thank you!
Being a typical Asian, I have been eating noodles all my life. Today I have gained another unique chicken noodle recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I love making this soup when we have the flu, it really helps! Also is so delicious and easy to prepare!
We love using Thai bird chilis in lots of recipes, they add just the right amount of spicy! This looks delicious, can’t wait to try! 🙂
This is a favorite. Today I am sick with a cold and I am craving chicken soup with an Asian Twist. This fits the bill and it’s easy and fast to make, even if you’re not feeling well. Yummy … even without being sick
Thanks Richard!
I make up a batch and have it for lunch every day at work. It is delicious!
I just made this soup. oh my goodness, delicious .Â
Thanks so much Domenica!
How would you cook this in a crock pot?
I just made this tonight! First time making soup and I am really happy with how it turned out. I did get confused at times with some of the little things in this recipe but for the most part it turned out great! One thing I should not have done was poured in 8L of water into my pot, and I wasn’t sure if thats what I was supposed to do but it ended up giving me too much broth and the flavour was a bit watered down…. Soo next time I guess I’ll use 6L? Reeeeaaally not sure. I have A LOT of leftover broth though. I hope it’s possible to keep adding flavour to a broth as you go along because I think I might want to throw this back on the stove with more ginger, garlic, and onions so I can make the flavour of the brother really pop. This also took about 3-4 hours for me to make, even factoring in my bumps along the way but it felt like an all day thing. For the first time making homemade soup I think it could have been a lot worse! So thanks 🙂
Alannah – yes, you can continue adding to the broth. Making homemade soup is the best! Next time, you can try using a large crockpot and just leave it on overnight or all day.
Hi, I miss authentic Ipoh kway tee-ow (kuai teow?) soup. It is simply delicious. It is worth a trip to Ipoh just to try it. Someone said it never tastes as good as the one made from the water from the Ipoh River, but I miss it so much it is worth a try to cook it here in Australia by a Gweilo :).
Hi Jaden, I’m a big fan of your site. I’m so proud to see Malaysian recipe here. If you wanna try another Malaysian favourite dish, I would suggest Nasi Lemak (rice cooked with coconut milk & pandanus leave) and usually eaten with few other side dishes. It’s an adventurous food for any first timer.
Love your blog and this recipe is tops. This is my favorite thing to eat in Ipoh (I was born in Malaysia and my mother’s family is from there) – I used to have it EVERYDAY despite the warm climate. Thanks for writing this up. More malaysian recipes please!
Hi Jaden,
Yeah, in Ipoh, the noodles are called sar hor fun but in other states of Malaysia, we simply call it hor fun. Both names refer to the same dish and it’s usually served in soup. 🙂
hey, isnt Ipoh Sar Hor Fun the dry type flat noodles with gravy poured over…not soup?
That’s what RasaMalaysia said too! I think dish should be called Ipoh Hor Fun…but Chef Danhi checked with his sources and said to call it Ipoh Sar Hor Fun. ???
I’ve used your “silky chicken” poaching method for many other dishes besides this one and the chicken always turns out juicy and fabulous! Thanks for that great idea!
Thank you!
I made this soup today for my husband’s family who just arrived from Serbia last night and it was a big hit. thank you for a great dish and I hope that you don’t mind if I blog about it on my blog and link back you yours.
Shayne
Jaden! I made the soup and it was soooo delicious! I have to admit that I used fresh spinach for my greens because I am a fool for spinach. But other than that I stuck to the recipe. Wasn’t easy hunting down fresh rice noodles but I finally found them (but they weren’t the wide ones ðŸ™
Anyway, both Bob and I loved it! The chicken was awesome. Interesting way to cook it – and you were so right about it being silky.
Wow! Just a great recipe. Thank you!!!
oh great! isn’t it the best recipe ever??? ~jaden
Flat rice noodles just make me weak in the knees. I’ve actually been to Ipoh for a week-long holiday and the Ipoh Hor Fun in Ipoh rocked. I love the “dry” version where a brown shoyu sauce is used instead of chicken broth. Shiitake mushrooms are divine when they are soaked in this sauce. Memories… I live in Japan now so such cuisine is far far away.
i could eat that same bowl of soup every day for the rest of my life and be happy. it oozes coziness and happiness for me. thank you!
Oh yum! This is one of my favorite comfort meals, I’ve never made it myself though. Don’t know if it’s traditional but Hawaii I’ve had it with sliced radishes so I think I’d add some of those from my CSA.
I just love the pictures of this. I am normally not a fan of the direct overhead but #2 just shows off the presentation SO well. Can’t wait to try!
Simple, light, and delicious! These non heavy meals are great anytime. And your photo is very tempting :).
You’re not just the only one who eats at the computer. Instead of cookies, I eat fruit, but that can still cause a big mess.
I can call magnificent! to this chicken soup, looks and must taste excellent 🙂
You aren’t alone eating cookies while editing photos or reading posts, is very common on me too, my keyboard remembers the crumbs often…
Cheers!
Gera
Oh my goodness, I simply have got to make this! We had a wonderful Thai soup last night that I picked up at the Columbus North Market. We fell in love with it. And this looks even better!!! Jaden, you make me want to make every single thing you post on here!!!
awww thank you! ~j
Asian Noodle Soup. Just reading those three words makes me happy. And… I have been counting the minutes (!) since 6/15 for you to announce the Club Med winner! (fingers crossed) 🙂
Sounds like a wonderful cookbook! One I definitely need to add to my collection! 🙂
Since we’ve had a cool and rainy spring (all the way into June!), soup sounds like the perfect meal for tonight.
Here in Los Angeles, we’re just barely eeking our way out of June gloom, so this sounds perfect on a cool, gray day. Looks great.
I came home to FL from LA to hot, sticky humid. I think I’d rather have June Gloom! ~j
this looks so earthy and perfectly clear. YUM. the other day my bf got sick and I wanted to make a cleansing soup. Sad I didn’t have this beforehand. I went with duck soup – some homemade stock I had on hand. Real stock is soooo goood.
What a great riff on chicken soup! Will definitely be trying this one. It looks fabulous!
Oooh I love the twist on chicken noodle soup! I can totally relate to the whole “bad blogger” thing. I hope you feel better!!
This looks so good and so comforting!
Jaden,
You always have stunning pictures. I wish I had the time to take pictures that would do the plates justice.
The cookbook sounds gorgeous! Do you know if it is available in Canada? I am going to order it, because it is JUST what I need for advancement. See, I am what they call “gaijin” or “giuy-lo”, so I need to experiment on dishes to recreate them. That is part of the reason – am working in a pan Asian resto.
As always, you inspire me to keep up blogging, thank you for that!
Beautiful photos! I’ll make your recipe tonight for dinner! thank you…
Mmmm…don’t mind a hot bowl of noodles during winter now here in Australia! The dish looks beautiful, Jaden!
Editing photos and eating cookies, that sounds so familiar! 😉
I love noodles, but you know your first paragraph gets me. Hm, chocolate cookies…
Wow this soup looks so so delcious, bookmarking them.
ohhh! I love hor fun but never bothered to try and make it since its so cheap and yummy in Singapore Hawker Centers!