Egg Noodle Soup with Braised Chicken

This dish is called Mi Vit Tiem in Southern Vietnam, which is very popular in a nearby Chinese supermarket called “Cho Lon". Some say this dish emigrated from China because the meat is marinated in advance with a lot of Chinese spices related to Chinese medicine like cinnamon, ginger roots, star anise, etc... The broth has a slight dark color because of all these spices, but the fragrance is unbelievable. My version of this dish uses chicken legs instead of duck legs because I do not live near by Oriental butcher shops. The method of cooking will be the same as cooking with duck legs. I am very happy with my recipe and hope that you will agree.

Ingredients:
Marinade:
4 oz rock sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp salt
5 star anise
5 whole cloves
Two 3 inch long cinnamon sticks
2 oz fresh ginger, sliced
6 pieces dried orange peels
4 dried chili
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp five spices
2 cups water
Chicken and broth:
2 cups coconut juice
6 chicken legs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
10 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water
12 cups chicken broth
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp salt
Vegetables:
1 lb. Chinese cabbage (cai xanh) or Chinese kale (cai lan)
Scallions, cut into 2 inch sections
White onion thinly sliced
Cilantro leaves, chopped for garnish
Fresh hot chili, sliced
1 1/2 lbs. fresh egg noodles

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, add all the marinade ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Place chicken legs into a Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade and turn to coat evenly. Seal the Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight.
Drain the chicken legs. Pour 1/4 cup of oil into a large sauté pan. Add chicken legs and fry until golden brown (about 3 to 5 minutes on each side). Add the coconut juice and some reserved marinade . Cover and braise the chicken legs for 30 minutes. While the chicken is braising, prepare the soaked mushrooms. Remove the stems and cut the caps in half. When the chicken legs are done, remove chicken from the braising liquid and drain the braising liquid. You may use this liquid with the broth.
In a soup pot, add chicken broth, some braising liquid, chicken legs and the Chinese mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Skim the froth as it rises to the surface. Reduce the heat and simmer the mixture for 30 minutes or until the chicken legs are tender.
To prepare the soup:
Blanch the Chinese broccoli and scallions in the hot water and set aside
Bring a pot of water to a boil and place a large bowl of cold water next to it. Divide the noodles equally for each serving in a strainer and cook in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Stir the noodles with chopsticks. Then immediately dip the cooked noodles into the cold water to stop the cooking. Drain briefly and place the noodles into an individual soup bowl. Repeat with the remaining noodles.
Divide the vegetables, scallions, white onions and place on top of noodles in each bowl. Transfer the chicken legs into each bowl of noodles. Bring the soup to boil again. Ladle the boiling broth and mushroom caps to cover the noodles and the chicken legs. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, black pepper, and hot chili.