Coconut Noodles Recipe (2024)

Fish cakes? Even more perplexing is the off-hand instruction that they be "deep fried". Does that mean breaded and fried? If so, the source's assertion that even the worst cook in the world could fix this takes on new meaning? The potential for a greasy, gummy mess seems pretty epic--about what you'd expect to appear from the kitchen of the world's worst cook...

Fish cake in coconut noodles is not really necessary. Especially if you cannot get the fresh fish and make it yourself. I wouldn't trust the readymade ones in canned or packages since those were most likely added MSG.
I usually add hard tofu in it. Also, I always add fresh mashed ginger sauté along with garlic.
Just sharing my experience since that's where I came from. :)

It doesn't look difficult, I'll give you that, but to mark it as a 20-min dish considering all the bringing to boil + simmering till thick/till cooked/till absorbed seems disingenuous at best. And I'm not even getting into the time it takes to prep that ingredients list.

What kind of fish cakes? And where do I buy them?

In Yangon this may be ''so easy, the worst cook in the world could make it." But it is not an easy dish to make or to shop for. Beware

If you can get past the annoying whining commenters who seem to have never worked with any of these very BASIC Asian products, then do try this recipe. It is quite good and easy and took me no more than 30min. If the ingredients seem totally difficult to get, then skip the dang recipe! Deep fried cake is at nearly all Asian markets. Someone complained about not finding turmeric. Really? Just move on to another recipe at that point.

All too many people finding fault with the recipe. So many angry, unhappy cooks.Make your own fish cakes, don't add sugar, don't add MSG if you're scared of it, take the time it takes, prep all that you will need, do it all, or do none of it. This recipe is great as is. Just stop complaining. You are making the rest of us sad.

This says the worst cook in the world can make it? What's really disappointing about this dish is it sells itself like it's an easy dish but it calls for a bunch of random ingredients a novice cook wouldn't have and not very detailed instructions on how to make it. What a bummer

This looked delicious as I love Burmese food, and this recipe might be easy for "the worst cook" provided they lived in Myranmar or a large cosmopolitan city. But fish cakes and roasted chickpea flour, or even Asian markets are not something I have access to. Shallots are expensive where I live - so 13 shallot lobes (?) is a deal breaker. Just how many grams is a "lobe", anyway?

Whoever presented this recipe needs to spend some time with Mark Bittman and/or Ina Garten, two American's who understand how to blend ease and flavor. Perhaps where she is from that's easy...in this culture it is complicated and confusing.

I made this without fish cakes or shallots or deep-fried rice noodles. Used fettuccine noodles, since I had them, and pre-roasted chicken with a hot rub I had made a couple days ago. Added some chile paste at the end to pump up the heat. Absolutely delicious! I think it's important to just try to take the basics of the recipe, but use the ingredients that you already have without getting uptight. I will make this again with many of the same adjustments since I live in the boonies.

A specialty food market or an Asian market or would have fish cake. Happy cooking!

I gather the 20 minutes prep time starts only after you have come home from the Asian market, cubed the chicken and fish cakes, boiled, peeled, and sliced the eggs, made the chicken broth, peeled more than a dozen shallots, roasted the chickpea flour, chopped/sliced all the remaining veggies, boiled the egg noodles, deep fried the rice noodles, and roasted and ground the red chilies?

This recipe is amazing. Forget all the haters. I used ground pork because that’s what I had on hand. Subbed the chickpea flour for almond flour. Skipped the eggs and fried noodles. Used some quick fry shallots instead. It wasn’t a quick 20 minute meal, but definitely doable for a weeknight. Thank you!

This recipe isn’t hard but could be written without so many steps. Best to cook onions and garlic, add chicken, Spices, then fish cakes from the bag (buy the fried ones), then add stock and coconut milk to same pot. Can skip the shallots or use more onions instead. Can substitute cornstarch for chickpea flour or skip it. And I added some bokchoy at the end as well. Simple and good.

Good but not great. If I make it again, I’ll thicken with cornstarch (was hoping the toasted garbanzo flour would add flavor, but if so, it wasn’t much). Overall, the dish felt one dimensional and kinda bland. So many better recipes on this site that take less time.

I love to read everyone's comments. It helps me decide if I should try a recipe. It took me 45 minutes; I'm just a home cook, that loves Burmese, coconut noodle soup. My batch came between as good as some but not the very best coconut chicken noodle soup I've had. The flavor was not as good, but still good. Maybe because some recipes call for lemongrass and galanga root. The "so easy, the worst cook in the world could make it", and "made it in 30 minutes", seemed like a challenge :).

Can I use coconut flour instead of chickpea?

This recipe is AWESOME! We used the whole 15 ounce can of coconut milk and would recommend. Shallots were so so, but a nice texture element, and wouldn’t leave out next time.

Took way more than 20 minutes, but did enjoy the end result!

This recipe is... SO GOOD! Our two changes were: 1) substituting tofu for chicken (YUM) and 2) using an additional cup of coconut milk (also YUM). Thanks!

This is the type of recipe that always drives me wild. Chickpea flour and "1 inch cubes of fish cake - deep fried". Maybe these are pantry staples in Myanmar? By the time I go through chickpea flour its stale, and, define fish cake. How bout recipe notes that are definitions and/or decent substitutions.

Does chickpea flour thicken better than wheat flour? I substituted normal flour for the chickpea flour, and I think it's much thinner than it was supposed to be. Perhaps this is why the flavor is very subtle. Thoughts?

Yummy and easy! Not sure why other commenters are saying it’s not easy, but I suspect they might just be getting scared away by ingredients that are unfamiliar to them. Don’t be scared to make modifications if you can’t find an ingredient. This really is an easy recipe, especially if you skip some of the garnishes. And it’s well worth it!

All too many people finding fault with the recipe. So many angry, unhappy cooks.Make your own fish cakes, don't add sugar, don't add MSG if you're scared of it, take the time it takes, prep all that you will need, do it all, or do none of it. This recipe is great as is. Just stop complaining. You are making the rest of us sad.

I made this without fish cakes or shallots or deep-fried rice noodles. Used fettuccine noodles, since I had them, and pre-roasted chicken with a hot rub I had made a couple days ago. Added some chile paste at the end to pump up the heat. Absolutely delicious! I think it's important to just try to take the basics of the recipe, but use the ingredients that you already have without getting uptight. I will make this again with many of the same adjustments since I live in the boonies.

We made homemade fried fish cakes and they were a delicious necessary addition. We put half in when they called for it and then used a few to garnish. A delicious dinner.

On what planet would this take only 20 minutes?