Vietnamese Pheasant Soup with Glass Noodles
This simple Vietnamese comfort food will level up your latest wild pheasant meal.
Miến gà, or Vietnamese chicken soup with glass noodles, is an easy, light, yet comforting meal one can pull together in under an hour. Note that glass noodles are different than the rice noodles that you may be more familiar with. Rice noodles are opaque when cooked, like the noodles used in Vietnamese phở, for example. The glass noodles in this soup are made with mung beans. When cooked, the noodles turn clear.
I’ve adapted the original chicken-based recipe for wild pheasant, especially if you don’t have a lot of bones on hand. You’ll notice I did not include an amount for the pheasant bones/legs/wings; just use whatever you have on hand. If you don’t have any bones, the chicken bouillon makes up for any lack of flavor, and you can bypass simmering the bones in step two. Also, you can deep fry the fresh shallots yourself or buy a bag or jar at an Asian grocery store. The fried shallot adds a lot of aromas to the dish, so I don’t recommend skipping it.
Vietnamese Pheasant Soup with Glass Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 pound pheasant breasts
- Pheasant bones/legs/wings
- 10 cups water
- 2 tsp Knorr powdered chicken bouillon
- 1½ tsp kosher salt
- 10 oz dried glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli)
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped
- 1 bunch green onion chopped
- Deep fried shallot to taste
Instructions
- Place the pheasant breasts and bones in a stock pot and cover them with tap water. Bring it to a boil. You should see scum coming to the top of the water. Discard the water and scrub any scum off the pheasant breasts and bones with tap water. Set cooked breasts aside.
- Clean the pot and add 10 cups of new, filtered water. Return the bones to the pot, along with two teaspoons of the Knorr chicken bouillon and 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt. Bring to a simmer and cook on low for 30 minutes while partially covered. Meanwhile, shred the pheasant breasts into bite-size pieces and set them aside. The breasts should be cooked through. If not, they’ll finish cooking when the hot stock is ladled on top later.
- Soften the glass noodles by soaking them in hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. You could use boiling water, but the noodles will get soft very quickly; the noodles should be al dente when served, although some like it more tender. Strain the noodles and divide them among serving bowls. Season your stock to taste. Ladle the hot stock over noodles, and garnish with shredded pheasant, chopped cilantro, green onion, and deep-fried shallot. Serve immediately.
