Seafood Fish Broth Rice Vermicelli 魚湯海鮮米線 (yú tāng hǎi xiān mǐ xiàn) is a spinoff of the famous “Crossing Bridge Rice Vermicelli“ 過橋米線 (gùo qiáo mǐ xiàn). Some also call it the “Yunnan Bridge Noodles”. To understand this spinoff, it’s story time…
During the Qing Dynasty, a young man in Yunnan was studying for the upcoming imperial exams to become a government official. He took residence at a local study hall on a little island in a lake to better focus on his studies. His wife would bring him meals every day that she would make from home. By the time she brought the food to her husband, the dishes were already cold.
One day, she decides to make a clay pot full of hot chicken broth. She packed the noodles, various meats and vegetables separately so that it would taste freshly made when the ingredients are put into the soup just before eating. When she didn’t arrive at the study hall at the usual time, the young man went to look for her. She had fainted and he found her lying on the ground by the bridge. He helped her up and she recovered by the time they got to the study hall. Luckily the broth didn’t spill and it was still hot! This was due to the thick layer of chicken fat that insulated the top of the broth. The young man was grateful to his wife’s efforts and for the delicious hot meal, he decided to name the noodle dish “Crossing Bridge Rice Vermicelli“ 過橋米線.
Even though the chicken broth was delicious, they couldn’t afford to slaughter or buy a chicken every day. As the wife crossed the bridge one day, she saw that the lake was full of wild fish. So each day, she would bring her husband food and then catch fish from the lake to make fish broth for the next day. Hence, we have Seafood Fish Broth Rice Vermicelli 魚湯海鮮米線.
Many people get confused with all the different types of rice vermicelli there are. This kind of rice vermicelli is mǐ xiàn 米線, made from cooked rice and artesian water. It has a smoother texture and is more suitable for soup applications. It can be quite expensive too. The other type of rice vermicelli is mí fěn 米粉, made from uncooked rice. They are a bit tougher in texture and are suitable for both frying and in soup.
In my Seafood Fish Broth Rice Vermicelli 魚湯海鮮米線 recipe, I’ll show you how you can make a milky, flavourful fish broth without the strong fishy smell. This dish definitely has comfort food potential and it’s healthy too! Stay tuned for my “Crossing Bridge Rice Vermicelli“ 過橋米線 recipe that will be coming soon!
Interested in trying another traditional noodle soup dish? Try my Noodle Flakes in Soup 麵疙瘩/ 麵猴粉 recipe.
Seafood Fish Broth Rice Vermicelli 魚湯海鮮米線
Ingredients
Ingredients for Fish Broth:
- 300 g Fish meat
- 300 g Fish bones
- 200 g Soybean sprouts
- 30 g Jinhua ham
- 20 g Shrimp skin
- 30 g Dried scallops
- 4 slices Ginger
- 1 stalk Green onion , white part only (optional)
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2.5 L Water
Ingredients for Toppings:
- 300 g Halibut fillet , sliced
any fish fillet will work - 100 g Fish cake , sliced
fish balls and fish tofu would be good alternatives - 150 g Scallops
- 8 Shrimp , peeled
- 2 Shiitake mushrooms
- 1 stalk Green onions , chopped, green part only
- 50 g Yellow chives
- 150 g Baby yu choy sum
- 150 g Napa cabbage (siu choy)
- 100 g Soybean sprouts (with tops and bottoms removed)
- 300 g Rice vermicelli (mǐ xiàn)
- 2 tsp Fish sauce
- 1 tbsp Sweet potato starch
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
Instructions
Instructions to make fish broth:
- Pat dry fish bones and fish meat with kitchen towel
- Heat wok using high heat and add 2 tbsp oil
- Add ginger and fry for 10 seconds on each side
- Add fish bones and fry until lightly golden on each side. Put into a stock pot
- Add fish meat to the wok and fry until lightly golden and add to stock pot with the ginger
If liquid appears in the wok when frying your fish meat, it probably means that the fish was still wet or was too cold. If that happens, just turn off the heat and put it into the stock pot with the liquid - Rinse shrimp skin and dried scallops with water to get rid of dust and sand. Add to pot
- Add the white part of the green onion to the pot
- Slice thin slices of Jinhua Ham and add to pot
I used 6 slices - Add 2.5 L water and ¼ tsp white pepper powder to the pot. Bring to a boil
- Rinse beansprouts
- Take approx half of the 300 g of beansprouts and remove the top and bottoms of the beansprout, leaving you with just the white middle part. Do not discard the tops and bottoms. Put them together with the other half of the beansprouts. Set aside the white parts, they will not be used to make the broth
- When the water boils in the pot, add the whole beansprouts and the removed parts to the pot. Wait for the water to boil again and turn the heat to medium
- Boil at medium heat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the heat down to low and boil for another 3.5 hours.
- When time is up, remove all the contents in the broth and discard
- Taste the broth and if it’s not salty enough, you can add some salt or fish sauce
The Jinhua ham that I added was enough to flavour my broth - Set aside
Instructions for making seafood rice vermicelli:
- Slice fish into thin slices
- Marinate the fish slices with 2 tsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sweet potato starch and I tsp sesame oil. Mix well and set aside
- Slice shiitake mushrooms, fish cake and vegetables to your desired sizes
- Devein shrimp. Have beansprout whites and scallops ready
- The following instructions should be done after your broth is ready
- Reheat broth if it’s not already being heated
- Cook the rice vermicelli as per instructions on the package
- Add 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, shiitake mushrooms and napa cabbage to the broth. Bring to a boil
- Add shrimp, scallops, fish cake, halibut, cooked rice vermicelli, beansprout whites and yu choy sum. Turn down heat to low
- Cover with lid for 5 minutes
- When all the components are cooked, add yellow chives and turn off heat
- Sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve
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