MM Bon Appétit

This is a super easy stir-fried noodle recipe for when you want something quick, but healthy and delicious. It consists of miến- Vietnamese glass/cellophane noodles sautéed with shredded chicken, carrot, mushrooms, and green onion. If you’re feeling soupy, check out the noodle soup version of this dish: Miến gà. When I want to make multiple meals, I would buy a whole chicken and follow the noodle soup recipe so I can have the broth version first, then this stir-fried version the day after.

This dish comes together in about half an hour, even less if you have some leftover chicken or if you buy a rotisserie chicken. If you’re using pre-cooked chicken, use water or store-bought chicken broth in place of the chicken cooking liquid for sautéeing.

Despite its simplicity, it’s delicious with a lot of different textures and flavors. The noodles are bouncy, the chicken is tender, the carrot brings a sweetness, the shiitake mushroom and green onion are fragrant, and the wood-ear mushroom is a bit crunchy.

It’s delicious enough to keep you from being bored, but simple enough to please even a picky eater in your family!

INGREDIENTS FOR MIẾN XÀO GÀ

• Miến: Vietnamese glass/cellophane 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.
• Chicken breast - Ức gà: Chicken breast is usually not my favorite cut, I much prefer legs or wings for every day eating, but it works best for this dish because it shreds well. That being said, use whichever cut you want!
• 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.
• Shallot - Hành tím/hành khô: We will use half when boiling the chicken breast to enhance the flavor, and half when stir-frying.
• Ginger - Gừng: Since we’re not making broth, the ginger is not absolutely necessary, but I find that it removes any unwanted smell from the chicken and adds some depth of flavor to an otherwise pretty boring cut of chicken.
• Carrot - Cà rốt
• Green onion - Hành lá
• Vegetable oil - Dầu thực vật
• 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.
• Soy sauce - Nước tương/xì dầu: preferably dark soy sauce, since we’re mostly using this to add some color to the dish.
• Salt - Muối
• Ground black pepper - Tiêu đen xay
• Cilantro - Ngò rí/rau mùi: optional, for garnish

DIRECTIONS FOR MIẾN XÀO GÀ

1. Add the noodles to a large bowl and cover with room temperature water. Set aside to soak.
2. Add the shiitake and wood-ear mushrooms to a heat-proof bowl and pour in boiling water. Cover and set aside to rehydrate.
3. If using ginger, rinse and cut into slices without peeling.
4. Peel half the amount of shallot and cut to remove root end.
5. Add the chicken breast, ginger, and peeled shallot to a pot along with the salt. Add in enough water to cover the chicken completely.
6. Heat on medium high until the water begins to boil. Skim off any impurities, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken has cooked through.
7. In the meantime, peel, cut carrot into roughly 5-7 cm lengths, and shred or julienne.
8. Rinse green onion, cut to remove root end, then cut into 3-4 cm lengths.
9. Peel remaining shallot, remove root end, then thinly slice.
10. Drain mushrooms and rinse well to remove any debris.
11. For wood-ear mushrooms, cut into 5-7 cm-wide pieces if you have large mushrooms. Stack up a few pieces and cut into thin ~2mm strips.
12. For shiitake mushrooms, cut into 3-5mm slices.
13. If using, pick cilantro leaves from the stems, then roughly chop.
14. Drain the miến noodles.
15. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot to a plate and set aside to cool. Remove the pot of cooking liquid from heat, but do not discard. We will use some of this for the stir-fry.
16. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into thin strips.
17. Heat a pan on medium and add vegetable oil.
18. Add sliced shallot and sauté until fragrant.
19. Add the shiitake and wood-ear mushrooms, and sauté for 1 minute.
20. Add carrot and sauté for 1 minute.
21. Add the shredded chicken, along with bouillon and fish sauce, and sauté for another minute. Add a bit of the chicken cooking liquid as needed to prevent things from getting dry. If you’re using pre-cooked/leftover chicken, use water or store-bought chicken broth in place of the chicken cooking liquid for sautéeing.
22. Add the noodles, green onion, and some more chicken cooking liquid. Sauté for about a minute.
23. Add the soy sauce and continue cooking, adding more liquid as needed and stirring continuously until the noodles have soften and are fully cooked. This should take another 1-2 minute.
24. Add more fish sauce to taste if needed, along with the ground black pepper. Mix well, and remove from heat.
25. Serve immediately, garnishing with chopped cilantro.

RECIPE VIDEO

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