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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 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Scruff

Ingredients

  • 20 gm shredded black fungus / wood ear mushroom (available at Asian groceries and buy the one that is already shredded)
  • 300 gm glass / cellophane / 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) (Optional)
  • 3 - 4 tbsp fish sauce, depending on your taste
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • fresh cracked pepper, to your taste

Garnish

  • 4 tbsp fried shallots (highly recommended and available at Asian groceries)
  • 2 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 bunch coriander, chopped (optional)
  • 2 fresh chillies, chopped (optional)
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

Instructions

  • Soak the black fungus in plenty of boiling water.  Leave aside. 
  • Prepare the vegetables and chicken. (Note 1)
  • In a stock pot (5 L - 6 L), 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 and spoon up all the scum that accumulates on the surface. (Note 2)
  • Turn down the heat to medium low and add the salt, pepper, sugar and all the vegetables to the stock pot. Continue to simmer on a medium - low heat for 45 minutes. Remove any visible scum build up on the surface of the soup.
  • After 45 minutes, turn off the heat and leave with the lid on for 10 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pot and check the chicken is cooked. If not, pop it back into the pot and cook until done. (Note 3)
  • Strain the soup and press out as much liquid from the vegetables as you can. Afterwards, keep the soup pot on low heat with the lid on. (This stepped can be skipped if serving the vegetables with the soup) 
  • Drain the shredded black fungus and boil it in plenty of water in a separate small pot for 10 minutes. Then scoop the fungus out and set it aside for assembly.
  • Add 3 tbsp of fish sauce to the soup and check the seasoning. Adjust according to you taste. If here is too much fat floating on the surface, scoop it out with a spoon. (Note 4)

To Serve

  • Ensure the soup is brought up to a solid boil.
  • Prepare the bean vermicelli noodles as per the packaging directions. Place the soften vermicelli noodles into each bowl. (Note 5)
  • Tear chicken pieces and lay them along with some black fungus on top of the noodles.
  • Pour the boiling soup over noodles and then sprinkle the garnishes over the top.

Notes

  1. Cutting the vegetables into smaller pieces will help the soup extract more flavour.
  2. The chicken does not need to be completely submersed in the water. 
  3. Keep the chicken whole for as long as possible to stop it from drying out. Also, there will be some chicken left over from the meal. Be sure to have a recipe in mind to use up the leftovers.
  4. 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.
  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.