How to make Mì Xào Giòn Đồ Biển: Crispy egg noodles with seafood

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By Thi Le and Jia-Yen Lee

Thursday May. 01, 2025

Viva

A classic dish, done right this can be exceptional. Photo / Mark Chew

Done well, this dish is the stuff “dreams are made of”, says Thi Le, who shares the recipe in the new cookbook Viet Kieu.

This is a staple dish across the menus of Melbourne’s Viet–Chinese eateries. The good versions are stuff that dreams are made of, and the questionable versions are very much questionable. I like my egg noodles straddling the apex of crisp and just softened by the heat of the sauce between the time it was spooned over the noodles to the time the dish was walked to the table. I like the sauce with just enough gloop to coat but not so much to glue. I love my seafood fresh and just cooked. I have bitten into mouthfuls of cold (sometimes still frozen) imported seafood, ammonia- or chemical-laced, often texturally lifeless. I will take the natural sweetness and the tactile snap of a wok-licked local prawn any day.

MÌ XÀO GIÒN ĐỒ BIỂN RECIPE

Serves 1–2

200g fresh egg noodles

60ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil, plus

1 tsp for noodles

20g ginger, peeled and sliced

2 red Asian shallots, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 spring onions (scallions), white parts cut into 5 cm (2 inch) batons

150ml chicken stock or water

60g squid, cleaned, cut into chunks and lightly scored in a crosshatched pattern

2–3 prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined

60g firm white fish fillets ,such as John dory or barramundi, cut into chunks

70g broccolini (tender stem broccoli), cut into chunks

30g Chinese celery, cut into 5cm (2 inch) batons

Slurry

1½ Tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

3 Tbsp cool water

Sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

Pinch of raw sugar

Pinch of cracked white pepper

Prepare the noodles

Loosen the fresh noodle pucks, then blanch in boiling water for about 50 seconds. Rinse under cold water until cool, vigorously shake out any excess water, and let drain. Set aside.

Make the slurry

In a small bowl, combine the cornflour and cool water, mixing well until smooth. Set aside.

Make the sauce

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stirring until dissolved. Set aside.

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Fry the noodles

Heat the 1 teaspoon of oil in a large wok or frying pan over high heat, then reduce to medium. Add the cooked noodles, spreading them out evenly. If they start to stick, add another splash of oil.
Once the noodles start to char, flip them to char the other side. Be careful not to burn them.
Transfer the crispy noodles to a plate and keep warm. Rinse and wipe out the wok.

Cook the seafood and vegetables

Heat the 60ml of oil in the wok over medium heat.
Add the ginger, shallot, garlic and spring onion batons; stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the squid, prawns and fish, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
Add the slurry and sauce mixture, along with the broccolini. Stir fry for 2–3 minutes until the broccolini is just cooked.
Remove the wok from the heat and toss in the Chinese celery.

To serve: Serve the seafood and vegetable mixture over the fried noodles.