Thai Coconut Curry Soup

(photo by: Antonis Achilleos for Bon Appetit)

I found this recipe in a picture-less little black and white booklet sent out by Bon Appetit magazine as a thank you for ordering their magazine. Well, there was one picture. It was on the front. And it was this soup. (Side note: If you are a food magazine editor, or you ever become one, here's my request of you--always, always, always include a picture of every recipe! In my experience, if it doesn't have a picture, I don't try it. It's too hard to imagine how yummy it might be with just a list of ingredients. Just sayin'.)

So out of that booklet of 50 or so recipes, this is probably the only one I will try because the picture sold it before I ever saw the ingredient list. It looked like it might be coconut milk based, and I saw that little lime wedge. I love coconut and lime together. So I found what page the recipe was on and decided to give it a try. The list is loooooong, but it's not hard.
And it tasted just how I'd hoped it would. If I had this in a restaurant, I would be completely satisfied! So thanks Bon Appetit for this picture at least!

Thai Coconut Curry Soup
adapted from Bon Appetit

2 T oil
3 T chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 T minced lemongrass
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 T Thai yellow curry paste
2 T curry powder
1 t hot chili paste
2 cans coconut milk
5 c chicken broth
2.5 T fish sauce
2 t sugar
3 c snow peas
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 lb rice vermicelli noodles
3/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
1/2 c red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c cilantro
3 red Thai bird chiles, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

Heat oil in large pot over medium high heat.
Add onion, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger. Stir until fragrant, about 1 min.
Reduce heat to low and add curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste.
Add 1/2 c of the coconut milk and stir for 2 min.
Add remaining coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
Add sweet potato and chicken.
In a separate pot, bring some water to a boil and add rice noddles. Cook until done, about 5-7 min. Drain.
Add snow peas to the pot with the chicken and cook until heated through.
Divide noodles among serving bowls. Cut with scissors if too long.
Pour hot soup over noodles.
Garnish with red onion, cilantro, green onion, chiles, and lime wedge.