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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan khao soi soup

November 8, 2016 by Ania - 34

Asian-inspired, butternut squash, easy, gluten-free, healthy

vegan khao soi soup top down

How does a bowl of warming soup sound to you right now? If winter has moved in to your neck of the woods, then I’m sure you won’t be able to resist! Even we, who have been lucky enough to swap cold and wet English winters for much milder Greek ones, are finding a soup for dinner a welcome prospect right now as evenings have suddenly got windy and cold. And this isn’t just any old soup, it’s more of a substantial dish full of spice, seasonal veggies and noodles bathed in an aromatic curry broth inspired by a Thai classic soup. This vegan Khao Soi is easy to make, filling and very satisfying!

I was rather distracted on the day I was shooting this recipe. The day before we found ourselves become foster parents to one half-starved little kitty and all I wanted to do is to sit by her side and watch her get better. We were driving to get some shopping done when we saw a scruffy little kitten casually stroll on the other side of the road. We stopped the car, but before we managed to get out to help the kitty off the road a car going at a full speed appeared on the other side. We screamed and gesticulated at the driver to get him to slow down in time, but to our horror he ploughed through this poor little critter at full speed without making any attempt to avoid it. Needless to say he did not stop either. We were both sure the kitty died on the spot so when we saw her little shaken body walk off and seek refuge next to a nearby tree we were both shocked and relieved at the same time. Despite such a recent trauma, she was extremely affectionate and docile. Miraculously, she did not seem to have sustained any injuries following the accident but two things immediately stood out – she was starved to near-death and a gracious host to a major flea colony. We couldn’t leave her behind…

A vet confirmed that apart from starvation, a thriving flea and worm population on her back and in her intestines, she is a survivor!! Two days have gone by and she’s getting better by the hour. She is currently curled up on a hot water bottle, wrapped up in a blanket and getting much needed sleep. Our mission is to cure all her ailments and fatten her up a little (okay, a lot!) and find her a loving home as our resident cat (also a rescue one), Tina, has already let us know how she feels about our charity. So if you love cats and would love a gentle and affectionate companion kitty (and you live in continental Europe), please get in touch!! We are sure that together we can figure something out to ship Snowy to a loving ‘hooman’ as soon as she is fully recovered and well enough to travel.

PS: If you make this soup, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

vegan khao soi paste

vegan khao soi soup close up

vegan khao soi soup sideview

vegan khao soi soup portion

5.00 from 5 votes
Print
  • serves: 3-4
  • prep: 20 min
  • cooking: 20 min

Ingredients

KHAO SOI PASTE

  • 4 hot red chillies (fresh or dried*) I used fresh
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 5 cm / 2 ” piece of ginger, peeled and roughly sliced
  • 4 tbsp / ¼ cup coriander stalks, chopped
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, white inner part only, roughly chopped
  • 2 small shallots, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds or ½ tsp ground coriander
  • 1½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder (I used hot Madras curry powder)

REMAINING INGREDIENTS

  • favourite noodles (GF if needed), 1.7 oz / 50 g per person
  • ½ head of broccoli, divided into florets
  • ½ butternut squash, peeled and sliced into dice
  • a large handful of flat green beans, cut on the diagonal
  • oil (I used peanut, for frying)
  • about 750 ml / 3 cups of vegetable stock
  • 250 ml / 1 cup full fat coconut milk**
  • about 3 tbsp vegan fish sauce or tamari / soy sauce
  • juice of ½ lime
  • 1-2 tbsp sugar, I used coconut sugar
  • fresh coriander, to serve (optional)

Method

  1. OPTIONAL STEP: If using whole coriander seeds, I recommend pre-roasting them on a dry pan until golden and fragrant and pounding them to a powder in a pestle and mortar.
  2. Place all the paste ingredients in a herb chopper or a food processor, add about 4 tbsp of water and process until you get a uniform paste.
  3. You can cook your vegetables in the soup (see STEP 7) or separately, like I did. It takes a bit more work but I find that they taste better than if you simply boil them. If you want to cook them separately, heat up the oven to 225° C / 435° F and line a tray with a piece of baking paper. Coat diced butternut squash in a tablespoon of oil, season with salt or tamari / soy sauce and bake for about 30 mins, until golden. Heat up one tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir fry broccoli florets for about 1 minute, add sliced beans and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Season with tamari or soy sauce.
  4. Cook noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
  5. Put the bowls into a warm oven (100 °C / 210 °F) to heat them up for serving.
  6. Heat up a tablespoon of oil in a medium size pot. Add Khao Soi paste to the hot oil and stir-fry it for about 4-6 minutes, until slightly darkened. Add vegetable broth and coconut milk and allow them to come to the boil. Season with vegan fish sauce (tamari or soy sauce), fresh lime juice and sugar to taste.
  7. If you want to cook your vegetables in the soup, place diced butternut squash in the soup, allow the soup to come to the boil and simmer for about 7 minutes, add broccoli florets and sliced beans and cook for a 5 further minutes.
  8. Pour over cooked noodles and serve with fresh coriander.

*If using dried chillies, soak them in boiling water for 30 minutes. Adjust the number of chillies according to personal preference and the type of chilli you are using. I only have one, generic, red chilli at my disposal here and as they are not very hot I used 4. I also roasted them in a 220 °C / 430 °F for about 10 minutes to deepen their flavour a little.

**The original recipe used 2 cups of broth to just over 3 cups (2 x 14 oz / 400 ml tins) of coconut milk. I found even half of the coconut milk (1 x 14 oz / 400 ml tin) too rich so I suggest 3 cups of broth to 1 cup of coconut milk. If you prefer a richer and creamier soup, substitute some of the broth for extra coconut milk.

My recipe is an adaptation of this recipe from Epicurious.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Lee says

    November 8, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    Love this recipe! Will try it soon 🙂 About the kitty, I cannot say enough how happy I ham that you found her and are taking care of her – she is very lucky! I had a simillar situation a few months ago and I was very fortunate to have found my street kitties a forever home where they are being treated with love! I hope you find a home for your foster kitty soon*

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 8, 2016 at 4:37 pm

      Aw, thanks Lee! We hope so too although it will be very hard to say ‘goodbye’ as we fell for that little sweetie already. So awesome that you rescued one too! x

      Reply
  2. Johanne says

    November 8, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Ania you are encouraging my obsession with squash and pumpkin. The photos on this one are particularly enticing with the repeating points of earthy orange, fiery red and brilliant green. Why don’t you contact HydraArk about the new kitten. They are super friendly and helpful. If you make up a little bio for the kitten replete with photos many of us would share it on Facebook .-Johanne

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 8, 2016 at 4:41 pm

      Thanks Johanne! Glad to hear that you like my new recipe and thanks for the tip about HydraArk – we will look into it. For now, we want to make sure that she is 100% before we scrub her up for the photos etc. She is still in a bit of a shock and not fully recovered yet, which is not surprising given what a day (life up until now) she has had. She is looking a bit better each day so we are hopeful 🙂

      Reply
  3. Judy says

    November 8, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    First, this soup looks AMAZING. I can’t wait to try it, so thank you for another wonderful recipe. Second, thank you for saving the kitten. I, too, faced a similar situation a few months ago–minus the speeding car and the fleas. I found a half-starved, tiny kitten in the road, trying to catch a bug. Like your cat, my two rescue boys hated her on sight and refused to enter the house while she was in it. I’ve had her two months now, and I hate to tell you this, Ania, but now that she’s a little bigger, the boys don’t run anymore, and she wraps her little paws around one as they sleep together. Granted, female cats are notorious for not accepting new females into their domain, but once the little one is healthy and growing, Tina might find she likes having a companion. Just saying . . . In the meantime, she is a very luck y girl that you two found her and are caring for her.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 9, 2016 at 1:23 pm

      Thanks for your support, Judy! Glad to hear that your ‘catgate’ end up so amicably 😉 What a lovely story! We will see how things progress but, Tina’s temper tantrums aside, we are not in a position to have another house cat anyway so we will do our best to find her a loving owner once she is well again. Ania

      Reply
  4. Acacia says

    November 14, 2016 at 6:29 am

    So this looks, and sounds, amazing. The only issue is I’m severely allergic to garlic; have you tried making this dish without it? Do we think it will taste similar or as good?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 14, 2016 at 11:43 am

      Hi Acacia,

      I haven’t tried making this dish without garlic as garlic, ginger and chilli are the ‘holy trinity’ of Indian and South-East Asian cooking and I think skipping the it will affect the taste massively, however, as you must be used to not having garlic it may not bother you. Worth trying! Also, have you heard of an Indian spice called asafoetida? It is used instead of onion and garlic in many Indian recipes and it may be a good substitue for you.

      Hope that helps,

      Ania

      Reply
  5. Kathryn says

    November 28, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    Soup always sounds good! Thanks for sharing this recipe, looks delicious! 🙂

    Kathryn

    Reply
    • Ania says

      November 28, 2016 at 12:40 pm

      Thanks, Kathryn!

      Reply
  6. Kathy says

    December 3, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    I made this curry and it was wonderful. I threw in some baked tofu as well.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 4, 2016 at 1:00 pm

      Thanks so much, Kathy! That’s lovely to hear and tofu is always a great addition, isn’t it! 😉

      Reply
  7. Cara says

    December 4, 2016 at 4:27 am

    Could the paste be made ahead of time and stored for a few days? Or would you recommend against this? I’ve added this my family meal plan and am planning my prep work.
    Beautiful website 😄

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 4, 2016 at 1:03 pm

      Thanks so much, Cara! Your comment made my day! 🙂 I don’t see why making the paste ahead would be a bad idea, but I would suggest topping it with generous amount of neutral oil so that it doesn’t dry up and get mouldy and keeping it in the fridge in a sterilised jar. Good luck!

      Reply
  8. Petra says

    February 24, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    Amazing soup, I made it for my partner and he loved it. He is very picky when it comes to Asian -inspired food and he asked me to make it again at the weekend. Can’t wait for more recipe like this.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 25, 2017 at 5:08 pm

      Hi Petra,

      Thank’s lovely to hear!! Thanks so much! x Ania

      Reply
  9. Phil Leader says

    February 24, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    I’m not a vegetarian but I was drawn to this recipe by the beautiful photos. I made it tonight and it was absolutely stunning! Lovely flavours and textures, and healthy too (although I probably cancelled out the goodness with the Maltesers I had after! Oh well.)

    Thank you so much for posting the recipe. Going to try the Malabar curry next…

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 25, 2017 at 5:10 pm

      Thanks so much, Phil! That’s awesome that it went down so well with you! Ha ha…tell me about Maltesers, when I lived in London I used to hoover them up on a regular basis! 😉 x

      Reply
  10. Divya Rai says

    October 26, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    Sending all the love and good vibes to you for saving the kitty!! Hello from a cat-lover in New Delhi, India.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:41 pm

      Thank you so much! It’s safe and sound, adopted by our friend, who used to be our neighbour.

      Reply
  11. Miss Food Fairy says

    January 9, 2018 at 10:02 am

    Oh WOW Ania, that Khao Soi paste sounds absolutely wonderful! Is it a Thai paste? I can’t wait to try it out but I may add some sort of protein. Pinned for later reference. Thanks for sharing x

    Reply
    • Ania says

      January 9, 2018 at 1:32 pm

      Thanks, hope it’ll hit the spot! Yes, it’s inspired by a classic Thai soup. Ania

      Reply
  12. Isabela says

    March 11, 2018 at 10:59 pm

    According to my partner, the best Asian soup I’ve ever cooked! Delicious (although a bit too hot for us, I’ll use less red chillies next time). Thank you!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 12, 2018 at 12:03 am

      Thanks, Isabela! That’s lovely to hear! Ania

      Reply
  13. Lucy says

    May 17, 2018 at 9:33 am

    Hi, I don’t see the Khao Soi paste in you list of ingredients. Is it red thai curry? I can’t really find the ready product with this name.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      May 17, 2018 at 11:47 am

      Hi Lucy,

      I haven’t used a ready made paste in this recipe, I make one from scratch from the aromatics listed (instruction 2). I suppose you could sub with a vegan version of Red Thai curry paste, but the outcome won’t be quite the same, of course. Ania

      Reply
  14. Anna says

    September 27, 2018 at 10:57 am

    Oh my gosh this soup is INCREDIBLE. I’m eating it right now and it’s 100% going to become a weekly staple it’s that good. I think it would work with pretty much any vegetable as well, I used potato, zucchini, carrot and sauteed some mushrooms in soy sauce to put on top and it’s probably the best thing I’ve eaten in ages. In fact I may just make some of the special paste and bottle it up to give to my family so everyone can experience Ania’s genius. Thank you so much! Love from NZ

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 27, 2018 at 11:04 am

      Hahaha! Thanks, Anna! Although it’s not my genius, it’s Thai people’s genius 🙂 I’m so pleased to hear that you enjoyed it so much!! Ania

      Reply
  15. Paayel Agarwaal says

    December 4, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    Those squash and broccoli look amazing. Did u oven roast before adding to the soup?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 4, 2018 at 3:39 pm

      Thanks! Yes, I did!

      Reply
  16. Paayel Agarwaal says

    December 9, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    Thank you! How much time would you recommend?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 9, 2018 at 6:50 pm

      You mean how long to roast for? Pumpkin takes about 30 min and broccoli about 15-20 in 200 C oven. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  17. Yasmin says

    July 14, 2019 at 1:16 pm

    Lovely recipe and chat feedback. Loved the kitty story – if I lived in Europe I would be in line to have her. Happy cooking and lots of blessings for your kindness.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 14, 2019 at 8:44 pm

      Thank you for you kind words, Yasmin!! Happy cooking to you too. x Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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