Taiwanese Fried Rice Vermicelli with Shrimp & Shiitake (Chao Mi Fen)

Photo: Midori · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Every Taiwanese grandma's party noodle: thin rice vermicelli simmered in a savory broth with cabbage, shiitakes and carrot until it absorbs every drop, then finished with shrimp and crispy fried shallots.

Ingredients

• 10½ oz rice vermicelli
• ¾ lb raw peeled shrimp
• 5 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• ½ head green cabbage (1 lb), thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, in matchsticks
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup oyster sauce
• 2½ cups chicken broth
• ⅓ cup fried shallots
• cilantro to serve

From your pantry: 3 tbsp oil, 1 tsp white pepper, ½ tsp sugar.

Instructions

1. Soak the vermicelli in cold water for 5 minutes, then drain. Stir the soy, oyster sauce, white pepper, sugar and broth together.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large wok or deep skillet over medium-high. Cook the shrimp until just pink, about 2 minutes, and move to a plate.
3. Add the remaining oil and the garlic and shiitakes and stir-fry until the mushrooms soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cabbage, carrot and celery and cook until the cabbage wilts, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Pour in the broth mixture and bring to a simmer. Add the noodles and loosen them into the liquid with chopsticks or tongs.
5. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook, lifting and tossing every few minutes, until the noodles are tender and have absorbed the liquid, about 10 minutes. Add a splash of water if they are still firm.
6. Toss in the shrimp and half the fried shallots, then pile onto a platter and top with the rest of the shallots and the cilantro.

Tip: The noodles should be soft and seasoned all the way through, not wet. Keep tossing with chopsticks instead of stirring so the strands stay long. Thin strips of pork and dried shrimp are also traditional.

Nutrition per serving

Good for

Adapted from Elle Gourmet (Tiffy Chen).

You might also like

Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice with Soy Eggs)120 min · 940 kcal · 28 g proteinThree Cup Chicken (San Bei Ji) with Basil35 min · 740 kcal · 52 g proteinTaiwanese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup (Niu Rou Mian)180 min · 835 kcal · 50 g proteinDan Bing (Taiwanese Egg Crepe Rolls with Cheese & Scallion)25 min · 420 kcal · 22 g proteinXian Dou Jiang (Taiwanese Savory Soy Milk Soup)15 min · 335 kcal · 15 g proteinShrimp Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce40 min · 495 kcal · 32 g proteinFried Shrimp Po' Boys with Cajun Rémoulade45 min · 760 kcal · 48 g proteinSingapore Curry Rice Noodles with Shrimp & Egg30 min · 555 kcal · 35 g protein