Basic chicken broth & Miến Gà | Glass noodle chicken soup

Sometimes we eat 12 organic chicken leg quarters a week.  To make this go the mile, I roast the legs (sesame chicken) and shred the chicken while its still warm and pliable.  I reserve the bones, cartilage, & parts of the skin for chicken broth in the freezer.  My sister Uyên recommends roasting the bones to deepen the flavor.  This is another 30 minutes of prep/cook time so I've yet to try it out. 

My daughter requested "Minnie-strone" so I got the chicken bones out of the freezer and I soak/boiled some kidney beans, but then looking at our vegetables--bok choy & organic bunashimeji from a recent run to Ranch 99 (this is the VietAm grammatical noun-adjective transposition), organic kale & broccoli greens from our garden, and the roast sesame chicken leg quarters in the fridge... and well I started feeling more Asian than Italian and I started craving Miến Gà.  Only, anytime I eat Mien I get very agitated and have an accelerated blood sugar/hunger pattern--maybe from processing or maybe it's the tapioca (thought: cornstarch is frequently a cheap substitute for tapioca so that might be the trigger)--still haven't figured it out.  So I used what we had in the pantry--dangmyeon (Miến khoai lang).

Anyways, I used what we had in the pantry, garden, and fridge.  Improv whatever mild green vegetables & ingredients you've got on hand.

Basic Chicken broth

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of organic chicken bones
• 2.5 qts of filtered water
• 1 organic shallot
• 3 organic garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of organic ginger powder
• 2-3 handfuls of grey sea salt
• generous splash of Red Boat fish sauce
• 1 splash of raw, organic apple cider vinegar*
• optional carrot (sweetens broth)

Throw all the ingredients into your 5 QT dutch oven or stock pot.  Put the lid on and let it low boil for 30 minutes.  Alternately, throw it in the pressure cooker for 15 mins plus decompression time.  Remove the chicken bones.  (You can optionally freeze and reuse the bones but I generally only use them once.)  

*The ACV helps to acidulate the bones so they release their minerals.

Miến Gà recipe

• chicken broth (no carrot)
• veggies: bok choy, broccoli greens, kale, etc.
• 1/2 c organic dried shitake mushrooms
• 7 oz (2 packages) organic bunashimeji (beech mushrooms)
• optional nấm mèo | wood ear fungus
• 2 bunches of dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato noodles)
• roasted sesame oil
• Red Boat fish sauce
• shredded roast chicken
• cilantro
• chile paste for condiment (Youzi XO sauce, etc)

If you are making the broth from scratch, start making it first.  Then start a pot of water boiling to make the noodles.

If you are using dried mushrooms, reconstitute them in separate bowls with hot water.

Meanwhile, thoroughly wash & chop your greens.  The traditional way of washing greens uses less water than letting the faucet run.  Fill a tub, bucket or large bowl with water and submerge the mustard greens to wash them.  Plunge the greens up and down to get the water sloshing; the dirt and sediment sink to the bottom.  Rub your thumbs across the inner stalks to remove any dirt.  Remove the greens and compost the water lightly rinsing any residue off the tub.  Repeat at least once more until clean.

Once the water is boiling, cook noodles for 8-10 minutes until softened.  Drain in a colander (you can compost the water) and rinse with cool water to remove extra starch.  Pour 2-3 tbs of sesame oil over the noodles and toss thoroughly.  You can also use your hands to massage it in. This keeps them from clumping/sticking.

Drain the mushrooms and squeeze out excess water.  Slice shitake if necessary.

Remove any bones from the broth at this time.   Add veggies, mushrooms, 1/4 cup sesame oil, a handful of salt, and a generous splash of Red Boat Fish sauce.  Cover and cook for ~10 minutes until veggies are just cooked.  

In each soup bowl, add glass noodles, shredded chicken, and top off with veggies & broth.  Garnish with cilantro and serve with chile paste.

Ăn Ngon Lành|Eat Delectably!