Vietnamese Crab Cellophane Noodles (Mien Xao Cua)
Mien Xao Cua (Crab Cellophane Noodles Stir-fry) is a traditional Vietnamese dish. It is incredibly delicious with the natural sweetness of crab meat, soft translucent glass noodles, crunchy vegetables, and refreshing lime fish sauce dressing.
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 290kcal
Ingredients
For Crab Cellophane Noodles
- 4.5 oz cellophane noodles (also called glass noodles)
- 0.6 oz dried wood-ear mushroom
- 0.2 oz dried shiitake mushroom
- 10 oz crab meat (about 1 3/4 cup)
- 2 oz bean sprouts (about 2/3-3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup julienned carrots
- 3 tablespoons minced shallot, divided
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce, divided
- 2/3 cup chicken stock, divided
- 1/4 cup scallions, cut into 2'' long pieces
- black pepper
- olive oil
For Lime Fish Sauce dressing
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Soak cellophane noodles in water for 15-30 minutes until they become soft. You can speed it up by using warm water. Discard water, rinse noodles and set aside.
- Soak dried wood-ear mushroom and shiitake mushroom in hot water for 5-7 minutes or until they are fully rehydrated. Remove stems and slice into thin strips. We need about ¾ cup sliced wood-ear mushroom and 2 tablespoons sliced shiitake mushroom.
- Peel and julienne carrot. If you have time, pick and discard the yellow beans from beansprouts since we only need the white stems and it will make the final dish prettier, but it is completely optional.
- Whisk all ingredients to make the lime fish sauce dressing to combine and set aside.
- Place a pan/skillet over medium high heat. When it's hot, add oil. Add 1 tablespoon of minced shallots and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add crab meat, stir and add 1-1½ teaspoon of fish sauce. Cook until crab meat is heated through and set aside.
- Add a generous amount of oil to coat the pan, then sauté the remaining minced shallots until fragrant. Add shiitake mushroom, stir and cook for 30 seconds. Add wood-ear mushroom, carrot and 1 tablespoons of stock or water, and continue to stir and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Slightly reduce the heat and add noodles together with ¼ cup (60ml) of stock. Mix and cook for a minute. Add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and mix. Gradually add stock by a couple of tablespoons while constantly mixing to cook the noodles for another minute or until it is almost soft to your liking. If the noodles start clumping while stir-frying, reduce the heat.
- Add beansprout stems and quickly mix everything together for 30-60 seconds. Add crabmeat and scallions. Continue to mix and stir for about 30 seconds until noodles are soft and everything is cooked.
- Once everything is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Transfer to serving plates right away and sprinkle a lot of black pepper on top. Serve hot with the lime fish sauce dressing.
Video
Notes
This recipe has been revised on 1/12/2021. In the original recipe, I suggested 8 oz of crab meat and 4 oz of thinly sliced pork. The pork will be sautéed with minced shallots and some fish sauce until 90% cooked after sautéing the crabmeat (Step 5). You will then continue to sauté the vegetables and cook the noodles as in Step 6.
Here are some advantages when you add some pork slices:
- Make the dish more economical since you will need to use less crabmeat.
- You may use water instead of chicken stock since the pork will release its own juice and compensate for the lack of stock/broth.
Nutrition
Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 1675mg | Potassium: 457mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3670IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2mg