What is Khao Piak Sen?

Khao Piak Sen is a traditional Laotian noodle soup known for its comforting, hearty texture and rich, savory flavor. It’s often considered the Laotian equivalent of chicken noodle soup — warm, soothing, and deeply satisfying.

Here’s a breakdown: • Name meaning: “Khao Piak Sen” literally translates to “wet rice noodles.” • Main ingredients: The dish features chewy, handmade rice noodles made from rice flour and tapioca starch, cooked in a flavorful chicken (or sometimes pork) broth. • Broth: The base is a clear, aromatic broth simmered with chicken, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, shallots, and fish sauce, resulting in a savory, umami-rich flavor. • Toppings: Common garnishes include shredded chicken, fried garlic, scallions, cilantro, lime wedges, chili oil, and sometimes bean sprouts or hard-boiled eggs. • Texture: The noodles are soft yet slightly elastic, giving the soup a distinctive, comforting consistency — almost like a cross between pho and udon.

It’s a beloved comfort food across Laos (and in many Lao communities abroad), often served at family gatherings, celebrations, or as a cozy meal on a rainy day.

Khao Piak Sen Toppings

Topping options:

1. Sliced green onions - help add freshness to the dish
2. Sliced cilantro - helps add freshness and fragrance to the dish
3. Fresh lime juice - helps add citrus to the dish
4. Chili Oil - To add extra spice and toasty flavor to your dish
5. Beansprouts - adds texture and crunch to the soup
6. Fried garlic and shallots - add wonderful fragrance and flavor to the dish
7. Garlic oil - from the fried garlic, adds extra richness and flavor to the dish
8. Fried Chinese Doughnuts - dip it into the flavorful soup!

Khao Piak Sen is a wonderfully customizable dish that invites you to make it your own. The base soup is simple and comforting, but the real magic comes from the toppings. Love spice? Add a generous drizzle of chili oil. Prefer a tangy kick? A squeeze of lime does the trick. For extra texture, toss in some fresh bean sprouts. And if you’re craving something heartier, dip in a few pieces of fried Chinese doughnut for that perfect carb-loaded bite.

Ultimately, it’s your bowl—dress it up however you like. That’s the beauty of Khao Piak Sen!

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Ingredients

Serves 6-8 bowls

For the noodles: (credit for noodle recipe is my friend @denvafoodie on IG)

• 16 oz rice flour
• 14 oz tapioca flour (save about 2 oz for dusting)
• 3 tbsp potato starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3.5 to 4 cups of BOILING WATER (must be boiling!!!!)

For the broth:

• 2 whole yellow onions (halved)
• 4 lemongrass stalks (cleaned, bruised, cut into 6" pieces, tied with butcher’s twine)
• 1 large ginger (cleaned, skin removed, and cut into thick slices)
• 6 lime leaves (gently torn)
• 6 chicken leg quarters (cleaned)
• 18 cups of water
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 oz (30g) rock sugar
• 1 pork blood cube + salt + msg
• 2 tbsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp MSG
• fish sauce (to taste)

For garnish and toppings:

• Sliced Green Onions
• Sliced Cilantro
• Fresh Beansprouts
• Chili Oil
• Fresh Limes
• Fried Garlic
• Fried Shallots
• Garlic Oil
• Black Pepper

Procedure

For the noodles: Thank you to my friend @denvafoodie for this noodle recipe that I still use.

1. Combine in a standing mixer the rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, and salt. Gentle mix that until it’s well combined.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil.
3. Gently start the standing mixer on low and slowly pour in the boiling water. Add about a cup at a time slowly and check the consistency. We are aiming for a consistency of Play-Doh. Stop pouring in boiling water once it’s reached this consistency. Allow it to keep mixing until the dough forms.
4. Once the consistency is reached, dust on the dough some more tapioca flour and begin kneading it on a cutting board. Cut the dough into 6 pieces and roll into a ball. Place the 6 dough balls into a zip lock to prevent drying.
5. Add your pasta roller attachment to your standing mixer. Put it on the thickest setting and gently roll out each portion of the dough into long sheets of dough. Add extra tapioca flour on the sheets to prevent sticking if required. Place that on baking tray for later. Repeat until you’ve pressed and rolled out all 6 dough balls.
6. Change your pasta attachment to the fettucini attachment and gently start cutting each of your 6 dough sheets. Dust with additional tapioca flour as required to prevent sticking.
7. You can fridge the noodles until ready to serve.

For the broth:

1. Add to a large pot your chicken leg quarters, halved onions, ginger slices, lemongrass stalks, torn lime leaves, salt, water, and rock sugar.
2. Bring this up to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and allow this to boil for 45 minutes.
3. Get a bucket with ice water. Remove the chicken leg quarters from the stock once fully cooked and allow to cool in the ice water.
4. Remove all the onions, ginger, lemongrass, and lime leaves from the stock. Go ahead and discard the onion, ginger, lemongrass, and lime leaves.
5. Season the stock with 2 tbsp chicken powder, MSG, any additional sugar (as needed), and fish sauce (to taste). We don’t want the stock to be overpowered with the fish sauce. It gives off a strong sharp taste. We only want the fish sauce to add the umami but not necessarily the saltiness. The stock is ready until serving.
6. Once the chicken has cooled, drain the chicken and allow to dry. Once dry, begin to shred the chicken and store into a separate container until time to serve.
7. When ready to serve, heat only enough stock for the portions you plan to cook. Once the stock is hot, add your shredded chicken, cooked pork blood cubes, and your tapioca noodles. Naturally the broth will thicken up a bit due to the tapioca starch. Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes or until the noodles are completely cooked through.
8. Top each bowl with sliced green onions, sliced cilantro, fried garlic, fried shallots, garlic oil, and crushed black pepper. Serve with a side of beansprouts, fresh limes, chili oil, and Chinese fried doughnuts.

For the pork blood (optional):

1. Gently cut the pork blood into 4 pieces and gently add the pork blood into a small pot.
2. Add enough water to fill the pot and cover the pork blood.
3. Add a heavy pinch of salt and a light pinch of MSG.
4. Heat the pot over high heat until it begins to lightly steam and boil – lower the heat to the lowest setting and allow to cook for 45 minutes.
5. Once fully cooked gently remove the cooked pork blood cubes (drain gently) and wash with clean water.
6. Cut the cooked pork blood into small bite sized cubes.