Simple Mien Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles)

If you need a super simple, light chicken noodle soup, this Mien Ga recipe is for you. This Vietnamese chicken soup with glass noodles combines the flavors of a crystal clear chicken broth with thin glass noodles, fresh herbs, and fried shallots to create a well balanced, flavor-packed dish. Learn all the ins and outs on how to achieve that perfect Vietnamese chicken broth in this blog post!

Something I never get tired of are simple noodle soup recipes, and I think I’ve found the simplest, tastiest one! Mien Ga or Vietnamese chicken soup with glass noodles is a dish that is made of a crystal clear chicken broth, cellophane noodles (glass noodles), some fresh herbs, and crunchy fried shallots. It has one of the purest, cleanest flavors I’ve ever tasted in a soup, but it’s also packed with flavor! I love it, and it’s a soup I come back to over and over again.

What is Mien Ga?

Mien Ga is very similar to Chicken Pho with the exception of the noodles. This noodle soup is often considered even lighter than chicken pho because of how few ingredients are used to make it. For the broth, only chicken, water, salt, and sugar are required, but I decided to add an onion to make it even more flavorful. The simplicity also extends to the toppings. Typically only chicken, cilantro, green onion, and sometimes fried shallots. Personally, I like the addition of fried shallots for more texture and more umami flavor.

The ingredient that sets this noodle soup apart from the others is the cellophane noodles (or mien). It is also known as glass noodles or fensi in Cantonese. These noodles are very thin and transparent, typically made from some type of starch like mung bean starch or potato starch. They can be found at Asian grocery stores and are usually found dried. To use, simply soak them in water for 10 minutes. I find that warm water works better than cold water.

Key Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

Chicken Broth

• Chicken – I used a 3 lb chicken for this recipe. You can use any cut of chicken you want, but I would recommend some with bone for a richer broth.
• Yellow onion – This is not traditionally used in Mien Ga, but I love it because it adds sweetness to the broth without adding more sugar. A great substitute would be a white onion.
• Granulated sugar – Add sweetness to the broth. You can vary the amount of sugar depending on the batch and how sweet you like your soups. I prefer a soup that is on the saltier side, so I used only 2 tsp of sugar. I would recommend tasting the soup, and if you feel like it needs to be sweeter, add more sugar.

Noodle Bowl

• Cellophane noodles (glass noodles) – Thin, transparent noodles that can typically be bought from Asian grocery stores or on Amazon. I would not substitute these noodles with some other noodles because it will no longer be “Mien” ga. It would make it some other noodle soup. That said, I did eat the broth with vermicelli noodles after running out of glass noodles, and it was just as good!
• Cilantro and green onion – Adds freshness to the noodle bowl. If you don’t like one or both, feel free to leave them out.
• Fried shallots – This is an optional ingredient, but one that I like to add to my chicken noodle soups. In my opinion, fried shallots pair really well with chicken in general. If this is something you don’t like, feel free to leave it out.

How to make Mien Ga

Feel free to skip to the recipe card for a simplified version of this recipe. Included below are more detailed step-by-step instructions and tips to achieve the best result.

1. Add a 3 lb chicken to a soup pot. Cover it with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then remove from the heat. Remove the chicken from the pot and pour out the water.
   • This step is called par-boiling the chicken which helps clear out all the impurities. It is a crucial step to creating a clear Vietnamese broth.
2. Put the chicken back to the pot and add fresh water so that it just covers the chicken.
   • Make sure to add water until it JUST covers the chicken. Adding any more than that will produce a broth with weaker flavor.
3. Add 1 yellow onion, 1 tbsp of salt, and 2 tsp of granulated sugar to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Once boiling, scoop away any impurities and lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Make sure to check the soup every 10 minutes to scoop away impurities.
   • I like to take it further and check every 5 minutes until I don’t see impurities anymore. This might seem like overkill, but it’s really important that most, if not all, the impurities are removed from the broth. The broth will be clearer and taste better.
5. While the soup is simmering, prep the rest of your ingredients. Soak 16 oz of cellophane noodles for 10 minutes. Mince 1/4 cup of cilantro. Thinly slice 1/4 cup of green onions.
6. After the soup has simmered for 30-35 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the chicken. Let the chicken cool down for 5-10 minutes before shredding the meat. You can add the chicken carcass back to the pot to soak up more flavor.
   • For a richer broth, you can take it a step further and continue to simmer the broth with the chicken carcass for an hour or two more.
7. Prep your noodle bowls! Add cellophane noodles to a bowl. Top with the shredded chicken, cilantro, and green onions. Ladle soup over the top. Finish it off with fried shallots and serve! Optional: Add a few drops of fish sauce to the noodle bowls for extra flavor.
   • Make sure the soup is boiling before ladling it over the noodles. The hot broth will make the noodles softer. A couple times in testing I ladled warm (not boiling) broth over the noodles, and they were more al-dente in texture which I didn’t love.
   • Add a few drops of fish sauce to your bowl if you want an extra flavor boost. I personally love it!

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