Mi Xao Ca Ri Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Stir Fry Recipe)

We had Vietnamese chicken curry earlier this week, so I used the leftovers to make this delicious chicken and tofu dish (mì xào cà ri gà). I have an aversion to wasting food, but that doesn't mean that the second life you breathe into a dish has to be any less wonderful than the original creation.

I shredded the chicken from the curry dish and made a stir-fry adding cubed tofu and vegetables available this season. To complete the meal, I added egg noodles. The dish couldn't be simpler to make, and it will work whether you have meat, poultry or seafood.

Mi Xao Mem Recipe (Vietnamese Egg Noodles)

Mì xào mềm, as opposed to mì xào dòn (crispy egg noodles) is the Vietnamese version of Chinese chow mein. This dish appears in almost every Vietnamese fast food joint. It usually comes with chicken and seafood such as baby squid and shrimp, but I wanted to make sure the entire family would enjoy the dish as well (half of my family is vegetarian). So this time, I mixed the soft egg noodles with rolled tofu skin and several vegetables.

Living in the Bay Area, we're lucky enough that Asian markets carry a wide variety of fresh egg noodles. I always look for the thin kinds. If you can't find any, you could always boil angel hair pasta. The flavor will be slightly different but still delicious!

Chicken Chow Mein Noodles

I prepare Chicken Chow Mein with king mushrooms, tofu, broccoli, sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots and red bell peppers. The dish couldn't be simpler to make, and is definitely a family favorite. It's a great alternative to pasta, and it's an excellent way to make use of leftovers. I often combine the leftover chicken from my poulet roti with whatever vegetables we have on hand.

Chow Mein is one of the few dishes I can cook where it's very easy to make both vegetarian and meat versions simultaneously. I just set aside a portion of the dish before I add chicken to the rest.