Cut the cooking time of this traditional Filipino chicken noodle soup by combining pre-made bone broth and chicken fillets instead of simmering a whole chicken. Prep time is 10 minutes; cooking time is 15 minutes.
Cook’s notes
If you’re not seeing a lot of sotanghon in the photo above, well, I have a tendency to use more meat (or seafood) and vegetables in noodle dishes. It’s the same when I cook Chinese-style fried rice. That’s why my daughters often say, I cook “where’s the rice fried rice”.
The thing is, when you use more meat or seafood, or both, and vegetables than noodles or rice, the dish becomes a full meal. And that means less work for the cook and the dishwasher. Less stored heat in the house too since the stove is on for a shorter.
They are fungus that grow on wood. They are sometimes called black fungus but, although they are used interchangeably in cooking, wood ears and black fungus are not the same.
Annatto powder is available in Asian groceries. If you don’t have access to it, you will need to use annatto seeds. Just heat in oil until they have rendered color, scoop out and discard. If tinting the broth is something you find unnecessary, dispense with the annatto altogether.
A simpler process
During my grandmother’s time, cooking chicken sotanghon begins with simmering a whole chicken to make a tasty broth. The cooked chicken is lifted from the cooking liquid, cooled and shredded, then added back to the broth with sotanghon and vegetables. We do away with the tedious process and long cooking time in this recipe. But, first…What is sotanghon?
It’s a translucent noodle made from mung bean starch. In English, it goes by many names including glass noodles, cellophane noodles and Chinese vermicelli. The thing is, the term “glass noodles” and “cellophane noodles” also include other translucent noodles made from rice flour, potato starch, sweet potato starch and tapioca starch. The texture of the noodles vary. Sotanghon is chewy when cooked. Glass noodles made from rice flour such as bee hoon are not.
Shopping tip: To make sure you’re getting real sotanghon, check the package and make sure it specifies that it is made from mung bean starch.
What are wood ears?
They are fungus that grow on wood. They are sometimes called black fungus but, although they are used interchangeably in cooking, wood ears and black fungus are not the same.
About annatto
Annatto or achiote is Bixa orellana — a natural red food coloring. It is sold as dried seeds, paste or powder for cooking and non-food uses. In the Philippines, we call it atsuete or atsuwete.
Annatto powder is available in Asian groceries. If you don’t have access to it, you will need to use annatto seeds. Just heat in oil until they have rendered color, scoop out and discard. If tinting the broth is something you find unnecessary, dispense with the annatto altogether.Chicken, sotanghon and vegetable soup
Ingredients
- 100 grams sotanghon (3.5 oz)
- 2 to 3 dried wood ears
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ½ teaspoon annatto powder
- 2 chicken thigh fillets (skin on because fat is flavor)
- 3 to 4 cups chicken bone broth
- fish sauce to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup thinly sliced white cabbage
- ½ cup julienned carrot
- thinly sliced scallions to garnish
- fried garlic to garnish
Instructions
- Soak the sotanghon and wood ears in hot water in separate bowls.
- Stir the annatto powder and oil, pour into a pan, and turn on the heat.
- Lay the chicken fillets, skin side down, in the oil and cook medium-high heat for a minute or two to render fat from the skin. Flip and cook for another minute.
- Pour in the broth. Season with fish sauce and pepper.
- Bring to the boil.
- Dump the cabbage and carrot into the pan.
- Drain the sotanghon and add to the vegetables in the pan.
- Drain the wood ears, trim, slice and add to the sotanghon and vegetables.
- Simmer everything together for five minutes.
- Taste the broth and add more fish sauce, if needed.
- Scoop out the chicken and move to a cutting board.
- Cut the chicken into strips and put back in the pan.
- Simmer the soup for another five to seven minutes.
- To serve, ladle the chicken, sotanghon and vegetable soup into bowls and sprinkle with sliced scallions and fried garlic.
Native chicken adobo with immature eggs