Published:  10:40 Thursday - May 16, 2013

Mi ga is the favorite noodle dish because it combines the simple flavors of a broth steeped with chicken along with the great texture of fresh al dente egg noodles. Such a pure dish is actually hard to find even in Little Saigon.

To make this dish perfectly, you have to prepare following ingredients:

Ingredients:

Stock
1 free range chicken (ga di bo)
2-3 lbs chicken bones (or for shortcut substitute with 2 qts chicken stock)
1 medium dried squid ( toasted and slightly charred)
1 medium knob of ginger (roasted/charred)
1 medium onion (outside skin removed and charred)
1 tbs salt
1 tbs sugar or 1 inch piece of rock sugar

Condiments
egg noodles, fresh if possible (we like both thin and wide noodles)
1 bundle of chives (he) chopped about 2 inches
1 lb of bean sprouts
Shredded green lettuce
1 cup of freshly fried diced onion (hanh phi)
sesame oil
pickled jalapeno peppers (we substituted pickled onions in the photos)
chile sate oil

Directions:

In large stock pot, add roasted onion, ginger, dried squid, and chicken bones and enough water to cover the ingredients and add 1 tbs salt and sugar. Bring to slow boil and be diligent in skimming the gunk and scum from the broth. When you have removed most of the gunk, add the chicken and keep the stock at a slow simmer and cook chicken for about 35 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool, but covered in plastic wrap. Remove and discard chicken bones. Season the stock with more salt and sugar as needed.

When cooled, break down the chicken by shredding the breast and meat of the hindquarters into thin strips. The meat should really just almost fall off the bone without much effort. Using butcher's knife, chop the drumsticks and wings. Set the shredded chicken aside.

Prepare your egg noodles by unraveling the pre-portioned bundle of noodles. Bring a large pot of water to boil and in large colander, dip a bundle for 10 seconds, remove and rinse in cold water. You want these noodles to be al dente. Drain and transfer to serving bowl. Drizzle the noodles with some pure sesame oil. Add the fresh fried onions, chives, shredded chicken, and ladle on broth.

Although the flavors of this soup is less complex then pho, we actually enjoy chicken noodle soup more than chicken pho (pho ga). The clean chicken broth along with tender and fresh free range chicken meat and al dente egg noodles makes this a wonderful addition to wonderful varieties of Vietnamese noodle soups

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