Mien Ga (Vietnamese Chicken and Glass Noodle Soup)
This delicious chicken soup with glass noodles (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!
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 55 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 15 gm shredded black fungus ((wood ear mushrooms))
- 320 gm glass noodles ((approx. 80g each bowl - big bowls!))
- 1 whole chicken ((approx. 1.8 kg / 4 lb, cleaned and not frozen) )
- 1 swede / rutabaga (peeled and chopped into small pieces)
- 1 brown onion (peeled and quartered)
- 30 gm ginger (peeled or unpeeled, sliced)
- 2.5 L boiling water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- freshly cracked pepper (to taste)
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon / chicken powder ((optional and available at Asian groceries))
- 4 tbsp fried shallots (highly recommended, available at Asian groceries)
- 2 spring onions (chopped)
- 6 sprigs coriander ((optional), roughly chopped)
- 2 fresh chillies ((optional), finely chopped)
- 1/2 lemon ((optional), cut into wedges)
Instructions
- 1
Soak the black fungus in a bowl with plenty of boiling water for 20 minutes.
- 2
Give the chicken a rinse under a tap, and prepare the soup vegetables.
- 3
Put the chicken breast-side down in a large stock pot. Add the water and the rest of the soup ingredients, except the fish sauce and chicken bouillon powder (if using). Turn the heat to high and allow it to come to the boil.
- 4
Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low. Continue to simmer for 45 minutes, partially covered. Use a spoon to scoop off any scum build up on the surface of the soup.
- 5
Drain the black fungus. In a small saucepan, cook the black fungus in fresh boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain and leave aside until assembly.
- 6
Prepare garnishes.
- 7
After 45 minutes, turn off the heat. Let the pot sit with the lid on for 10 minutes.
- 8
After 10 minutes, remove the chicken from the pot and check if the chicken is cooked. If not, pop it back into the pot and cook until done. If yes, then let the chicken rest on a plate. Once it is cool enough to handle shred the meat.
- 9
Add the fish sauce to the soup and check the seasoning. Adjust according to your taste. Add the chicken bouillon powder if you think the soup needs more flavour.
- 10
Keep the soup pot hot on a medium-low heat setting.
- 11
Prepare the noodles as instructed on the packaging. If there are no instructions, soak the noodles for 10 minutes in cold water to soften before serving.
- 12
Divide the noodles evenly into each bowl.
- 13
Lay the chicken pieces and black fungus on top of the noodles.
- 14
Pour the boiling soup over the noodles, then sprinkle the garnishes over the top.