Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

Seafood bird nest or Mi Xao Gion is a dish that you will most likely find in high-end Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants. It’s a tender, flavorful seafood and vegetable stir fry, served on a bed of crispy fried egg noodles that resembles a bird’s nest.

But you don’t need to go to a fancy restaurant to enjoy this. It requires a bit of preparation, mainly cutting up vegetables, but you can cook prep and cook up this dish at home in under an hour.

Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

The seafood and vegetables are precooked separately then stir-fried together in a flavorful dark sauce with garlic, shallots and ginger.

The typical seafood for Mi Xao Gion includes squid (or similarly cuttlefish and calamari), shrimp and scallops. If you are not a fan of seafood, you can also replace the protein with beef, pork, chicken and tofu for a vegetarian option.

Make sure to clean the seafood properly and give it time to marinate. Since I already have a pot of oil for deep-frying the noodles, I also deep fry the seafood for that fried flavor. Dust it with corn starch starch and deep fry until just opaque. No need to cook the seafood all the way through. It will continue to cook in the stir fry. An overcooked shrimp, calamari or scallop gets rubbery and tough. No bueno.

Vegetables for Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

Egg noodles for Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

The typical vegetables are a colorful array of bok choy, carrots, mushrooms and all colors of bell peppers. If you don’t have any of those vegetables, you can substitute with broccoli, cauliflowers, yellow squash, or whatever you have on hand, as long as there is a mix of colors.

I precook the vegetables (except mushroom) by blanching them in boiling water with a bit of salt and vegetable oil. The oil add a beautiful sheen to the vegetables and highly recommended.

No need to transfer the blanched vegetables to an ice bath. People do this to stop the cooking and to keep the colors vibrant. But this makes my vegetables ice cold. Instead, don’t overcook the vegetables. Since they are all cut into bite-size equal pieces, they only take a few seconds in the boiling water and no more than one minute for the denser vegetables. Once they turn vibrant in color, remove them from the boiling water and set aside.

Sauce Ingredients for Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

The sauce for Mi Xao Gion is a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce and sugar. Tapioca starch is whisked as a thickening agent.

The egg noodles I’m using are made of wheat flour and always yellow in color. Look for packages that say “pan-fried noodles” for the best result. You can find these noodles in the refrigerated section. They are sometimes vacuumed-sealed or loosely packed in small plastic bags.

There is no need to rinse or boil the noodles. Divide them into individual servings and gently drop them into the fryer. Make sure that oil is hot. The dropped noodle should puff up immediately to get the crispy texture.

This noodle “bird nest” holds all that saucy seafood and vegetable goodness.

Stir-Fried Vegetables & Seafood for Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

To make the fried noodles more into the shape of a bird nest, you can sandwich and shape the noodles between two equal size metal strainer, then deep-fried the egg noodles in this position. This will create a lovely bowl-shape. But this is too much work for me and create more things to wash. Also, no bueno.

To make things easier, I simply deep-fry them in my wok, which usually is flat at first. I transfer the noodles into a large bowl. While they are still hot, I gently press down on the noodles into the bowl with a large ladle. This creates a shallow well and is good enough as a “bird’s nest” for me.

Squid, shrimp, scallops for Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

This dish is best served immediately while the noodles are crunchy. Leftover noodles will soak up the sauce and even be more flavorful. It just won’t be as crunchy or crunchy at all the next day, but still very delicious.

Recipe below. As always, happy cooking!

Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp & Calamari, Scallop and Vegetables | Mì Xào Giòn Hải Sản)

Seafood Bird Nest (Crispy Fried Egg Noodles with Shrimp, Scallop, Squid & Vegetables | Mi Xao Gion Hai San)

Serves 5

Ingredients

Seafood

• 10 large shrimp (size 21-25; about 7 oz total; peel, devein)
• 10 bite-size pieces calamari/squid/cuttlefish (about 7 oz total)
• 10 small scallops (about 7 oz total)

Seafood Marinade

• 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon (pinch) ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch (reserve until frying)

Vegetables

• Orange vegetables: carrots (peel and slice thin) or orange bell peppers (cut into squares)
• Green vegetables: Bok choy (if using big bok choy, cut vertically into smaller stalks), green bell peppers (cut into squares) or snow/sugar snap peas (remove vein; leave whole)
• Yellow vegetables: Baby corn (leave into shorter pieces if too long) or yellow bell peppers (cut into squares), or yellow squash (cut into thick slices)
• Red bell peppers (cut into squares)
• Mushroom (shitake, oyster or button mushroom; slice thin)

Egg Noodles

• 1 lb fresh egg noodles

Aromatics

• 1 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon diced shallots
• 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
• Half yellow onion (peel and slice into thin wedges)

Sauce

• 1/4 cup tapioca starch or cornstarch
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon shaoxing cooking wine
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Garnish (optional)

• ground black pepper
• green onions
• cilantro

Instructions

1. Clean the shrimp, scallop and squid thoroughly by rinsing them with cold running water and drain dry. Transfer to a medium-size bowl, and marinate with chicken stock powder, salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder for at least 15 minutes. Set aside.
2. Add 3-4 inches of water in a large wok or deep pot. Heat water to a rolling boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon oil. Blanch each type of vegetables, no need for mushrooms, for 15-30 seconds. Lighter vegetables such as leafy bok choy should be blanched for only 15 seconds.
3. Remove water from the wok and heat 4-5 inches of oil to 380°F. Add cornstarch to the seafood that we set aside earlier and mix until combined. Drop the seafood into the hot oil one by one to prevent sticking. Deep fry for 30-45 seconds. Seafood does not need to cook all the way through as it will be stir-fried later. Transfer fried seafood to a plate lined with paper towels or a wire rack to remove excess oil. Set aside.
4. Divide the egg noodles into 5 large plates. Spread the noodles into a 5-inch disk.
5. To the wok, make sure oil is at 380°F. Slide the noodles from the plate into the hot oil. It should start to puff up immediately. Deep fry the noodles for 30-45 seconds then transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil and then onto a large plate. Repeat with remaining noodles. Optional: To make the noodles more bowl-shape, immediately transfer fried noodles onto a large bowl. While the noodles are hot, press the noodles down gently into the bowl with a large ladle. This will create a shallow well.
6. Remove the oil from the wok, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Heat up oil on medium high, then add garlic, shallots, ginger and yellow onion wedges. Saute until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
7. Give the sauce mixture a quick stir to re-dissolve the starch that may have settled. Add the mixture to the wok with the aromatics. Cook on medium-high until the mixture starts to bubble and thickens.
8. Add the blanched vegetables and fried seafood. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Scoop out stir-fried mixture and its sauce among the five noodle "nests."
9. Garnish with a dash of ground black pepper, sliced greens and/or cilantro. Serve immediately for the best crunchy texture.