How to Cook Fried Flour Vermicelli

While wheat-flour vermicelli may be most closely associated with Italian cooking, it is also a staple of Asian comfort food. Known as “mee suah," it is often used in a soup bearing its name. Frying flour vermicelli gives the noodles a firmer texture and helps bring out their earthy, nutty flavor for dishes such as stir-fries. There are as many ways to serve fried flour vermicelli as there are vegetables, proteins and seasonings to add to it, but the basic cooking method is the same. As with many other Asian noodles, making fried flour vermicelli is a two-part process.

Things You'll Need

Pot
Salt
Oil
Mesh spider

Chopsticks
Wok
Tongs
Seasonings such as ginger and soy sauce

Instructions

Fill a pot about two-thirds full of water. Salt it generously and add a healthy sprinkle of oil. Any oil will do, but olive oil or sesame oil will impart the most flavor. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.
Gently arrange your vermicelli noodles into a mesh spider. It is necessary to use a spider because it is too hard to recapture vermicelli if you boil it loose.
Lower the vermicelli into the boiling water. Stir it immediately with long chopsticks. Cook the vermicelli, stirring and turning it constantly, for no more than one minute. Take the spider out of the pot and let the noodles drain. Turn off the heat under the pot.
Coat the bottom of a wok or skillet with a fine layer of oil. Canola oil is a good choice, especially if you flavor it with a bit of sesame oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers across the surface.
Add the vermicelli all at once and stir it with tongs. Cook the vermicelli until the noodles start to get crisp, about eight to 10 minutes, stirring and turning it with tongs every few seconds. Season the noodles with soy sauce, ginger, spring onions or whatever you prefer. Use the noodles as a nest for stir-fry or add them to hot soup.

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