Vietnamese Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles

Vietnamese Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles

- Mien Ga

This delicious chicken soup with glass noodles or mien ga is a Vietnamese dish that is guaranteed to comfort! Mien ga is a perfect recipe for lunch or dinner with the family on any cold and miserable day!

 Course Dinner, Lunch

 Cuisine Vietnamese

 Prep Time 30 minutes

 Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

 Total Time 2 hours

 Servings 4 people

 Author Scruff

Ingredients

·         20 gm shredded black fungus, cut into smaller pieces

·         300 gm glass / bean vermicelli noodles

Soup Ingredients

·         1 whole chicken (1.8 kg / 4 lb), cleaned and not frozen

·         2.5 L boiling water

·         2 brown onions, quatered

·         5 garlic cloves, flattened

·         1 large swede / rutabaga, peeled and chopped into small pieces

·         2 carrots, roughly chopped into small pieces

·         30 gm ginger, sliced

·         5 coriander roots (buy coriander with the roots attached or omit)

·         4 tbsp fish sauce (60 ml)

·         1 tsp sugar

·         1 tsp salt

·         Fresh cracked pepper

Garnish

·         1 bunch coriander, chopped

·         2 spring onions, chopped

·         4 tbsp fried shallots (Available at Asian groceries)

·         2 fresh chillies, chopped (optional)

·         1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1.    Prep the vegetables and chicken. (Note 1)

2.    In a large pot, bring 2.5 L of water to the boil and add the whole chicken breast side down. Allow the chicken to boil vigorously for 5 mins.

3.    Turn down the heat to medium low and scoop up the scum/fat on the surface with a spoon. (Note 2)

4.    Add the salt, sugar, fish sauce and chopped vegetables to the stock pot. Continue to simmer on a medium - low heat for 1 hr 15 mins. Remove any  visible scum build up on the surface of the soup.  (Note 3)

5.    After 1 hr 15 mins remove the chicken from the pot and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes. Check the chicken to see if it is cooked. If not, pop it back into the pot and cook until done. (Note 4)

6.    Let the soup simmer for another 15 mins (total 1 hour 30 mins) then strain the soup into a large bowl and press as much liquid from the vegetables as you can.

7.    Soak the black fungus in plenty of boiling water for 20 minutes.  Drain and then rinse with tap water. Set aside.

8.    Pour the soup back into a clean pot on a low heat setting. You should have roughly 2 to 2.3 L of soup.

9.    Soak the bean vermicelli noodles for 8 - 10 minutes in plenty of warm water or follow the directions as per the packaging. (Note 5)

10. Add the black fungus to the broth and cook for 5 minutes. Then scoop the fungus out and set it aside for assembly.

11. Check the soup for seasoning and adjust according to taste. Note: Use fish sauce to adjust salt content or water to dilute or make more soup. (Note 6)

To Serve

1.    Ensure the broth is brought up to a solid boil.

2.    Place the soften vermicelli noodles into each bowl.

3.    Tear chicken pieces and lay them on top of the noodles.

4.    Pour the boiling soup over noodles and chicken.

5.    Sprinkle garnishes on top. I usually go coriander, spring onions, fried shallots and then chilli.

Recipe Notes

1.    Cutting the vegetables into smaller pieces will help the soup extract more flavour.

2.    I personally like a little bit of fat left in the soup for more flavour but if you want to get rid of it then skim it off with a spoon. You can also cool the stock in the fridge and remove the fat once it has coagulated on the surface.

3.    If you want to avoid the fish sauce smell while cooking the soup, add it after the soup has been strained. This however, will cause the chicken and vegetables to not absorb any salt which will case the soup to have a higher salt content. I recommend initially adding 3 tbsp of fish sauce and then tasting the soup every tbsp after that.

4.    Keep the chicken whole for as long as possible. Only tear pieces of chicken just before serving to avoid drying out the chicken meat. Also, there will be some chicken left over from the meal. Be sure to have a recipe in mind to use up the leftovers.

5.    I use Pine Brand Vermicelli Noodles which suggests a soak time of 7 + mins. However, not all noodles are the same, so it is best to go with the instructions on the packet.

6.    If you need to stretch the soup out with more boiling water, then I suggest adding chicken bouillon powder and more fish sauce. This will help maintain the flavour of the soup.

SOURCE    https://scruffandsteph.com

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