Mi Fen (rice noodle) Soup with Tomatoes, Eggs, and Onion

2010-5-25

Mi Fen Soup with Tomatoes, Eggs, and Onion

Today, this mi fen (rice noodle) soup was made with the girls in mind. Both of them are picky about different things for varying reasons. Anyways, this soup includes much less than I would normally include; still tasty, nevertheless.

And, this soup is good for those who have Celiac Disease, except for one ingredient: the soy sauce I used. But that problem is easily remedied; purchase gluten-free soy sauce. The brand I use carries gluten-free soy sauce, but it's much more expensive.

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Short recipe is followed by a much longer, photo essay recipe and direction.

Ingredients:

• package of rice noodles
• 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 8 eggs - I used cage free, brown eggs
• 1/2 of a sweet onion, cut into thin slices, followed by thirds
• five cloves of garlic, diced
• green onions, 3, cut thinly
  
• olive oil, just a bit
  
• sea salt
• soy sauce
• chicken broth, nearly a quart
• water, 1 1/2 to 2 quarts

Directions:

• In a pan with a bit of olive oil on low to medium heat, caramelize the half onion.
• Once the onion is finished cooking, drop it into a pot (mine is a stock pot that holds at least a gallon), along with the washed and chopped green onions.
• Using the same pan as before, drop in the diced garlic and add a bit more olive oil. Once the garlic has been sizzling for several moments, add the beaten eggs with a bit of chicken broth added. When the eggs are almost done, add in the can of diced tomatoes. Let it simmer. Then add the egg and tomato stir fry to the pot.
• With the onion, green onions, tomato and egg stir fry in the pot, add nearly a quart of chicken broth and about double the amount of water to the pot. Bring to a boil.
• Once the soup in the pot is boiling, add the rice noodles (mi fen). Add some sea salt and soy sauce. Let simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes, and the soup is ready to serve.

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Illustrated recipe and directions are as follows.

Ingredients:

Package of rice noodles. Made in TAIWAN, not China. There's a difference. In quality.


A large can of diced tomatoes. Were cluster tomatoes cheap or on sale, I'd be purchasing fresh ones.



Eggs. Cage free, and yes, that matters.



Sweet onion. I only used half. My girls sometimes complain about eating it. I'm not a restaurant, making upon orders placed, but I can lessen some of the not-as-preferred ingredients.


Garlic - 5 cloves. So the girls won't eat the garlic themselves, but they don't protest how it flavors the food.


Green onions. We need some additional color in this soup. Food presentation (as well as flavor) must be an artistic masterpiece.


Olive oil.



Sea salt.


Soy sauce.


Directions:

Half the sucker (onion). I'm saving the other half for some other occasion. Perhaps making guacamole in the near future.


Slice thinly.


Then thirds.


Peel the skin off the garlic. Then dice.


Wash the green onions and then cut thinly. Like so.


Green onions should look like this when done.


Here comes the cooking process:

Caramelize the onion. I used some olive oil. No sugar used. I added some beef broth I had left over from making chili the other night.


Once done, place into a large stock pot.


Then add the washed and cut green onions into the pot, too.


Next in the cooking process. Preparing the eggs for stir frying.

Place eight eggs in a bowl.


I beat them into submission using chopsticks, but you can use whatever you like - a whisk, a fork. Then I added chicken broth to the eggs to thin out the texture somewhat.

Mix, stir, or beat the chicken broth with the eggs.

To prepare the egg mixture for cook, put the garlic and a bit of olive oil in the frying pan, on low medium heat.


After the garlic has sizzled for a bit, add the egg mixture.


Once the eggs are nearly cooked, add in the can of diced tomatoes.


Mix well, and allow the stuff to sizzle and cook.


Then drop the mixture into the pot, along with the other stuff. I had used some water to clean out the remnants in the tomato can and dumped the contents into the pot.


Add a fair amount of chicken broth. I might have used 4/5 of a quart container of chicken broth. Again, I use free range. And yes, it matters.


Then I added loads of water, about double the amount of chicken broth I used. The rice noodles soak up a lot of water, so beware.


I put enough liquid into the pot to fill it near the top, leaving enough room for the rice noodles though.



There goes a full package of rice noodles, into the pot.


Once the rice noodles have had a chance to get tender, from absorbing the liquid, mix well.


After the mi fen has been cooking for a bit and is more tender, add the sea salt and soy sauce.


After the mi fen has had a chance to soak in the salt, soy sauce, and the flavors in the soup, it is ready to serve.

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Be careful about not cooking the mi fen (rice noodles) too long. Once it has been cooked too long, the noodles break apart very easily and can get quite mushy. I probably cooked mine (the noodles) for no more than 20 minutes; more like 10-15 minutes.