Funchoza with Chicken

Name: Funchoza with Chicken and Peanuts - Glass Noodle Stir-Fry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Chinese cuisine
Ingredients: Funchoza (dry) 120 g; Water for cooking the noodles as needed; Chicken breast fillet 1; Raw peanuts (unsalted) 100 g; Sweet red bell pepper 1; Chili pepper 0.5-1 pc; Sesame oil a quarter cup; Light soy sauce 1 tbsp; Dark soy sauce a little, optional; Mushroom sauce 1 tbsp; Sesame seeds, green onion, Thai hot sauce for serving

☆ Rate it

30 mins

We really enjoyed this main course for lunch: funchoza with chicken. It’s easy to make, all the ingredients are readily available, and the noodles themselves are sold in big supermarkets, and the quality is very good. A large wok without a lid is the handiest pan for it. The ingredients are fried in vegetable oil, then combined with the cooked “vermicelli” and the sauces.

Funchoza is often called glass noodles or winter noodles. The strands are thin and look like fine glass hair. Most often they are made from plant starch-rich ingredients, first of all mung beans. Potatoes, corn and other legumes are used too. Rice is used less often, although people commonly call these noodles rice noodles. By the way, noodles made from rice are opaque and white.

The flavor of these noodles is delicate and slightly creamy, almost neutral, which makes them an ideal base for all kinds of dishes. The thin strands cook very quickly, in just a few minutes. They say it’s enough to soak them in water and they’re ready, much like soaking rice paper sheets for spring rolls. For a salad, it’s better to rinse the strands so they don’t stick together.

A remarkable property of good-quality noodles is that they don’t swell and stay white. As a rule, the product and the dishes made from it have the same name, with chicken, vegetables, meat and so on added to the name of the dish. The noodles are fairly high in calories, more than 300 kcal per 100 g. They are almost always fried in oil and combined with other ingredients, so dishes with them are always filling and easy to digest.

Counterfeits are common on the world market, and a lot has been written about it. Such noodles are made with cheap, low-quality corn starch with bleaching additives that contain lead. Before buying, it’s worth checking the reviews for the specific product.

A pack of “glass” noodles usually weighs 200-300 g, which is enough to make funchoza with chicken for several servings. The strands are very thin, no more than 0.5 mm, but very long and tough. They are wound into a tight skein that can only be torn apart with some effort. The strands are matte white and become transparent after boiling. While cooking, the noodles absorb flavors and aromas beautifully, which is very useful for complex dishes.

More with chicken and noodles

Chicken Vermicelli Soup

45 min

Chicken Noodle Soup with Clear Broth

50 min

Singapore Laksa: Spicy Rice Noodle Soup with Chicken and Shrimp

1 h 30 min

Ramen Soup

2 h 30 min

Pho Ga – Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

1 h 30 min

More chicken breast recipes

Ingredients

2 servings

Base
Funchoza (dry) 120 g
Water for cooking the noodles as needed
Chicken breast fillet 1
Raw peanuts (unsalted) 100 g
Sweet red bell pepper 1
Chili pepper 0.5-1 pc
Oil and sauces
Sesame oil a quarter cup
Light soy sauce 1 tbsp
Dark soy sauce a little, optional
Mushroom sauce 1 tbsp
For serving
Sesame seeds, green onion, Thai hot sauce for serving

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Cooking the noodles

When my daughter and I decided to cook something Chinese or Thai, we turned our attention to “glass” noodles. There are many kinds on sale, but by sight we recognized the one we had seen in China. One pack was enough for three different dishes, including a tasty funchoza salad. We bought all the other ingredients at the same store.
Thin, delicate noodles cook very fast. Basically, it’s enough to pour hot water over them and leave for 5-10 minutes. That makes them soft and springy, and the finished dish turns out very tender.
Cook the funchoza. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add the funchoza. Ours was ready in about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them under running water to keep the strands from sticking together.

Slicing and frying

Prepare the ingredients. Remove any bones, fat and membranes from the chicken fillet. Cut the meat into large elongated slices. Remove the seeds from the sweet red pepper and cut it into strips. Seed the hot chili as well and cut it into thin strips. Shell the peanuts.
Fry the chili and peanuts. Set a wok over high heat and pour in a quarter cup of sesame oil. Add the sliced chili to the hot oil and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the raw unsalted peanuts and fry in the oil for 2-3 minutes. Be sure to stir, because nuts fry very quickly and can start to burn. The peanuts are fried in a similar way for kung pao or chicken with peanuts in Sichuan cuisine. If you bought roasted peanuts, you don’t need to fry them further, just toss them into the oil for 10-15 seconds.
Add the sliced chicken and fry it until it turns white.
Add the sweet pepper and sauces. Toss all the sliced sweet pepper into the wok and keep frying. After 5-6 minutes, add 1 tbsp of light soy sauce. You can also add a little dark soy sauce, which is more aromatic and has a pronounced flavor. It also darkens the dish nicely. I also recommend adding 1 tbsp of mushroom sauce, as the aroma will be incredible.
Fry the chicken, peanuts and pepper in the sauce without a lid until all the liquid is absorbed by the meat. A wok heats the food locally from below, so the frying is closer to braising in sauce. The chicken becomes tender and very aromatic. No other spices are needed.

Combining with the noodles

Carefully transfer the cooked “glass” noodles to the wok. After rinsing they won’t stick together, but they will still be very tangled, since the strands are long and thin, yet slippery and springy. They are usually stirred with chopsticks, but two forks work just as well.
Mix all the ingredients very thoroughly and braise the dish for another 2-3 minutes, turning the heat down a little. The noodles soak up the remaining sauces and all the juices from the dish, darkening but staying translucent. If any free liquid is left in the wok, it’s better to let the noodles absorb it, and then they will be even juicier. After that the dish is completely ready.

Serving

Serve the funchoza with chicken hot. It’s usually served on a plate or in a large bowl and eaten with chopsticks. Sprinkle the dish with a little sesame and finely chopped green onion tops, and add a mildly spicy Thai sauce on the side.

Calories and macros

875 kcal

Serving ≈ 450 g

Protein43 g20% of kcal
Fat51 g53% of kcal
Carbs59 g27% of kcal

100 g194 kcalProtein 9.5 gFat 11.4 gCarbs 13.1 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

Enjoyed the recipe? Pick me as a preferred source on Google, and you'll see my recipes more often in search. Choose on Google →

How did you like this recipe?

Thanks for rating!