Here are the ingredients and instructions for this recipe:
I use chicken as the base of the stock. In the area where I live, I can get chicken backbones from Whole Foods Market. I use a few pieces of ginger to flavor the stock. Simmer the stock for 30-45 minutes. Season the stock with either kosher salt or sea salt. Other ingredients that you need are: mung bean noodles (Please click the "ingredients" link to see picture of product. Noodles are also known as cellophane noodles or glass noodles or fen si in Chinese), green vegetables (chinese mustard greens or spinach), fish balls (Please click the "ingredients" link to see pictures of product. I use crab balls and mushroom fish balls here) and tofu pieces (This is the first time I use these fish tofu pieces and to my surprise, they are really tasty), chopped green onions and cilantro, fried shallots (You can use store bought ones. I just returned from a trip to Malaysia and as always, I received my share of fried shallots from my aunt in Medan, Indonesia. I love these fried shallots because they are handmade by a lady there and they are just like homemade ones. With the supply that I have, you can imagine, I have been putting fried shallots in almost every dish that I made these days).
Instructions: In a pot of boiling water, blanch the washed green vegetables, rinse them in cold water and squeeze out all the liquid by hand and cut vegetables into 1" pieces. In another pot of boiling water, blanch fish balls and tofu pieces for 3-5 minutes. In yet another pot of boiling water, cook the noodles. Once the noodles are softened, which takes about 2-3 minutes, they are ready. It is not necessary to rinse the noodles with cold water. Just place them in a bowl, top the noodles with the blanched vegetables, fish balls and tofu pieces. Lastly, ladle the soup stock over the noodles and toppings. Serve the noodle soup immediately with chopped green onion and cilantro mixture, and fried shallots. If you like, you can also serve some chili sauce on the side, for dipping.
