Mai

I see your chicken noodle soup and raise you… a different chicken noodle soup.

Light and comforting, this bowl of cellophane noodles topped with shredded chicken and mushrooms in clear flavorful broth is a delicious and simple dish to make at home.

The broth is made by poaching chicken with ginger, shallot, and green onion. The simplicity of this broth makes it a super versatile base for several dishes, like súp măng cua, cháo gà (chicken congee), or even phở gà!

Once cooked, the chicken is then cooled and shredded. I prefer to only shred the breast and keep the legs and wings whole, since they don’t shred as well but taste amazing dipped in some salt/pepper/lime. Some people will add the shredded chicken to the bowl as is, but my mom likes to sauté it with woodear and shiitake mushrooms along with extra seasoning to add even more flavor and I can’t have this any other way!

To assemble: add your noodles, then the chicken & mushrooms to a bowl, pour in that lovely hot broth, and top with green onion and cilantro!

We Vietnamese will eat hot broths year round, but especially now that the weather is getting cooler- all I want is noodle soups. I’m telling you, on cold days- you’ll definitely want a steaming bowl of miến gà to warm up your belly.

INGREDIENTS FOR MIẾN GÀ

• Whole chicken – Gà nguyên con: When choosing a chicken, a pasture-raised yellow chicken with thicker skin is the best choice for a flavorful, collagen-filled broth.
• Miến noodles: there are 2 main types- the first is miến dong made from arrowroot and the second is miến đậu xanh made from mung bean (also known as bean thread noodles). The first type is thicker and bouncier, I generally prefer it for sauté dishes or noodle soups like this one. The second type is thinner and softer- I prefer to use it in fillings of dishes like nem rán. However, miến dong is not super common outside of Vietnam. If you can’t find it at your local asian store, mung bean miến noodles will work fine.
• Wood-ear mushrooms – Nấm mộc nhĩ/nấm tai mèo: They don’t bring too much in terms of flavors, but texturally, they are irreplaceable. Crunchy and a bit chewy, wood-ear mushrooms add textural interest, especially to a meaty filling, which is why the trio of wood-ear, shiitake, and minced pork is such a common filling found in many dishes. For recipes with wood-ear mushrooms, click HERE.
• Shiitake mushrooms – Nấm đông cô/nấm hương: These incredibly fragrant mushrooms are a staple in Vietnamese cuisine. Commonly paired with wood-ear mushrooms, this dynamic duo is in more Vietnamese dishes than I can count. For recipes with shiitake mushrooms, click HERE.
• Ginger – Gừng: Ginger and chicken work magic together. Adding ginger brings extra depth and warmth to the broth, making it even more comforting and healing.
• Shallot – Hành tím/hành khô
• Green onion – Hành lá
• Fish sauce – Nước mắm: arguably the most important seasoning sauce in Vietnamese cuisine. Made from fermented anchovies, it is salty and incredibly umami. Non-vegan Vietnamese recipes without fish sauce are very rare. The best nước mắm comes from Phú Quốc or surrounding islands off the coast- Southwest of mainland Vietnam. Our favorite brand available outside of Vietnam is Red Boat (U.S.).
• Bouillon – Hạt nêm: think broth, but in solid form. Bouillon is an amazingly easy way to bring that umami flavor to your food. We use it instead of salt in many of our dishes. You can usually find chicken, pork, or mushroom bouillon. In Vietnam, Knorr is the most common brand. However, we have only been able to find Knorr in powder form in the US and France, not granules. Instead, we use Totole brand chicken or mushroom bouillon. The quantities on our website are based on the granule-type so if you use powder, adjust to your taste.
• Salt – Muối
• Ground black pepper – Tiêu đen xay
• Cooking oil/Vegetable oil – Dầu ăn/Dầu thực vật
• Cilantro – Ngò rí/rau mùi
• Sriracha or chilis

DIRECTIONS FOR MIẾN GÀ

1. Add the dry wood ear and shiitake mushrooms to a bowl and pour in boiling water. Set aside to rehydrate.
2. Add the dry noodles to a large bowl and cover with room temperature water. Set aside to rehydrate.
3. Cut ginger into thin slices.
   Peel and trim off root-end of shallots.
4. Add the ginger slices (reserving 2 slices) to a large pot, followed by chicken legs if you have them, then the chicken. I like adding the ginger and chicken legs first to create a barrier between the chicken and the bottom of the pot.
5. Fold the green onion stalks in half and insert into the cavity of the chicken, along with the 2 reserved pieces of ginger.
6. Add shallots, salt, and 3 liters of water to the pot.
   TIP: if you do not have a pot large enough to fit the chicken and all of the water, add as much of the water as possible and set the rest aside to add once you remove the chicken.
7. Bring pot to boil over medium high. Once boiling: reduce heat to medium low, add bouillon powder, and let simmer for 30 minutes.
8. While the chicken & broth are cooking: strain, rinse, and slice the 2 types of mushrooms thinly, along with the shallot from the Toppings & noodles section.
9. Cut to separate the green and white parts of green onions.
   For the whites: cut into 3cm lengths, then quarter them lengthwise.
   For the greens: chop into 1/2cm pieces.
10. Roughly chop cilantro.
11. Once the chicken is done, remove to wire rack to cool down enough to handle. Meanwhile, remove ginger & shallot pieces from the broth with a slotted spoon and season your broth to taste with fish sauce. Turn stove down to lowest setting to keep warm.
12. Using a good knife/cleaver, separate the legs and wings from the chicken. I like to keep & serve these whole, dipped in a salt-pepper-lime juice combination.
    TIP: I save the bones to make congee. It’s a great way to make the most out of the ingredients!
13. Shred the chicken breast and any meat from the body into thin strips.
14. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat, add sliced shallots and sauté until fragrant- about 1 minute.
15. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes.
16. Add shredded chicken. Season with bouillon powder, black pepper, and fish sauce. Sauté for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
17. Strain noodles.
18. To assemble:
    Add 1 serving of noodles to a strainer, dip into the broth and stir with chopsticks for 20 seconds to soften & warm up the noodles, then pour noodles into a bowl.
    Add some of the chicken & mushrooms mixture on top of the noodles.
    Pour in the broth, then top with the green onion and cilantro.
    Repeat for remaining portions.

RECIPE VIDEO

Miến gà • Chicken cellophane noodle soup

Course: MainCuisine: VietnameseDifficulty: Medium

Makes

5

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

A light but flavorful noodle soup, made with clear cellophane or glass noodles and chicken broth, topped with shredded chicken and mushrooms.

Ingredients

• Broth

• 2 kg 2 whole chicken

• 50 g 50 ginger

• 100 g 100 shallot

• 2 stalks 2 green onion

• 1/2 tbsp 1/2 salt

• 3 liters 3 water

• 1 tbsp 1 bouillon

• 2 tbsp 2 fish sauce (or to taste)

• Toppings & noodles

• 25 g 25 wood ear mushrooms (dry)

• 25 g 25 shiitake mushrooms (dry)

• 25 g 25 shallot

• 1 tbsp 1 vegetable oil

• 1 tsp 1 Bouillon powder

• 1 tsp 1 ground black pepper

• 3 tsp 3 Fish sauce (or to taste)

• 300 g 300 dry miến – cellophane noodles (See Notes)

• 3 stalks 3 green onion

• Cilantro

• Sriracha or chilis for serving (optional)

Directions

• Add the dry wood ear and shiitake mushrooms to a bowl and pour in boiling water. Set aside to rehydrate.
• Add the dry noodles to a large bowl and cover with room temperature water. Set aside to rehydrate.
• Cut ginger into thin slices.
  Peel and trim off root-end of shallots.
• Add the ginger slices (reserving 2 slices) to a large pot, followed by chicken legs if you have them, then the chicken. I like adding the ginger and chicken legs first to create a barrier between the chicken and the bottom of the pot.
• Fold the green onion stalks in half and insert into the cavity of the chicken, along with the 2 reserved pieces of ginger.
• Add shallots, salt, and 3 liters of water to the pot.
  TIP: if you do not have a pot large enough to fit the chicken and all of the water, add as much of the water as possible and set the rest aside to add once you remove the chicken.
• Bring pot to boil over medium high. Once boiling: reduce heat to medium low, add bouillon powder, and let simmer for 30 minutes.
• While the chicken & broth are cooking: strain, rinse, and slice the 2 types of mushrooms thinly, along with the shallot from the Toppings & noodles section.
• Cut to separate the green and white parts of green onions.
  For the whites: cut into 3cm lengths, then quarter them lengthwise.
  For the greens: chop into 1/2cm pieces.
• Roughly chop cilantro.
• Once the chicken is done, remove to wire rack to cool down enough to handle. Meanwhile, remove ginger & shallot pieces from the broth with a slotted spoon and season your broth to taste with fish sauce. Turn stove down to lowest setting to keep warm.
• Using a good knife/cleaver, separate the legs and wings from the chicken. I like to keep & serve these whole, dipped in a salt-pepper-lime juice combination.
  TIP: I save the bones to make congee. It’s a great way to make the most out of the ingredients!
• Shred the chicken breast and any meat from the body into thin strips.
• Heat vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat, add sliced shallots and sauté until fragrant- about 1 minute.
• Add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes.
• Add shredded chicken. Season with bouillon powder, black pepper, and fish sauce. Sauté for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat.
• Strain noodles.
• To assemble:
  Add 1 serving of noodles to a strainer, dip into the broth and stir with chopsticks for 20 seconds to soften & warm up the noodles, then pour noodles into a bowl.
  Add some of the chicken & mushrooms mixture on top of the noodles.
  Pour in the broth, then top with the green onion and cilantro.
  Repeat for remaining portions.

Recipe Video

Notes

• For miến noodles, there are 2 main types: the first is miến dong made from arrowroot and the second is miến đậu xanh made from mung bean (also known as bean thread noodles). The first type is thicker and bouncier, I generally prefer it for sauté dishes or noodle soups like this one. The second type is thinner and softer- I prefer to use it in fillings of dishes like nem rán. However, miến dong is not super common outside of Vietnam. If you can’t find it at your local asian store, mung bean miến noodles will work fine.

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