Are glass noodles and cellophane noodles the same thing?

Yes, glass noodles and cellophane noodles are the same thing. The cooked noodles are clear or transparent, just like glass or cellophane.

How do I cook glass noodles for cold salads or a hot stir fry?

Soak the noodles in hot water until clear and pliable. Drain and shake off excess water. Then proceed with the recipe. If adding the noodles to a stir fry, only cook the pre-soaked noodles in the wok or saute pan for a few minutes or they will get too soft.

Can I add glass noodles directly to soup?

Yes, you can cook the noodles in your pot of soup. Once the soup is ready, I turn off the heat and add the noodles to the hot broth. If the broth is really hot, the noodles should be ready to eat in about 5 minutes or so.

Is Chinese vermicelli the same as cellophane noodles?

Vermicelli is the name for any type of thin, long noodle. Noodles that are sometimes called Chinese vermicelli or "mei fun" are made from rice flour. However, Chinese cuisine also uses cellophane/glass vermicelli which is made from bean or potato starch. The blog Woks of Life has a helpful list of Chinese noodles .

Are glass noodles gluten free?

Yes. Glass noodles are made from either bean starch, potato starch or tapioca starch. Double check the ingredients on the package to make sure they are gluten free.

Easy, Flavorful Glass Noodle Soup

Name: Glass Noodle Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons canola oil or toasted sesame oil; 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or thinly sliced; 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger (or less, if you prefer); 8 to 10 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced (use your favorite type of mushroom); 4 cups/1 quart chicken or vegetable broth; 4 cups water; ⅓ cup reduced sodium soy sauce; 4 ounces* glass noodles (also called cellophane noodles); 3 to 4 handfuls fresh baby spinach; Green onions, for garnish

Glass Noodle Soup

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Easy, fast and flavorful glass noodle soup, made in a delicious garlic and ginger broth with soy sauce. Long, clear glass noodles are so fun to eat!

This is a vegetarian recipe, however, this soup is also really good with chicken. You can add cooked, shredded chicken to this recipe before serving the soup. Or, cook raw chicken in the soup pot. You can even add ground meat. See the notes below the recipe for instructions.

Author: Jenny
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Soup and Stew
Method: Stove top
Cuisine: Asian
Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Units Scale

2 tablespoons canola oil or toasted sesame oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger (or less, if you prefer)
8 to 10 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced (use your favorite type of mushroom)
4 cups/1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
4 cups water
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
4 ounces* glass noodles (also called cellophane noodles)
3 to 4 handfuls fresh baby spinach
Green onions, for garnish

Instructions

Warm the oil in a wide soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the garlic and ginger. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the mushrooms. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add broth, water and soy sauce. Once the broth reaches a simmer, cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the noodles and baby spinach. Turn off the heat and put the lid back on the pot. Stir occasionally, until the noodles are clear.
By the time you bring the soup to the table, the noodles should be fully cooked. You’ll know because they’ll be completely clear instead of white. The noodles are quite long, so you might want to snip the length with kitchen shears for easier slurping.
Serve with chopped green onion. Add more soy sauce to taste if needed.

Notes

For this recipe, you can use glass noodles made from either mung bean starch or sweet potato starch.

Packages of glass noodles usually contain small bundles of dried noodles. You can figure out the weight of each bundle by dividing the total weight of the package by how many small bundles are inside. In the photo of dried glass noodles in the blog post above, each of the bundles weighed 2 ounces.

Glass noodles soak up broth like crazy. Adding more than 4 ounces of dried glass noodles will fill your pot with noodles and almost no broth.

Add Chicken

Chicken thighs: Add 4 raw chicken thighs to the soup pot after adding the water, broth and soy sauce. Simmer the chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and shred the meat, then return the shredded chicken to the pot.

Cooked chicken: Shred leftover, cooked chicken and add it to the soup before adding the noodles.

Add Ground Meat

Any type of ground meat can be added to this soup, but ground pork or chicken are especially good. Add the uncooked ground meat to the pot as the very first step. Once it is mostly cooked, then add the garlic and ginger and proceed with the recipe.

Storage

This soup tastes best if eaten within 3 days. If leftover glass noodle soup is stored in the refrigerator, the noodles will soak up most of the broth. The noodles are still delicious, but you'll have to add more broth to turn the leftovers back into soup.

Keywords: glass noodle soup, cellophane noodles

Find it online: https://www.kitchenskip.com/easy-flavorful-glass-noodle-soup/