Sopa seca de fideo, angel hair nest pasta, first browned in olive oil, then cooked in a broth with tomatoes and onions.
Our favorite way of preparing angel hair nests is a Mexican dish called “sopa seca de fideo.” It’s a lot like pilaf, but made with thin noodles instead of rice.
The name “sopa seca de fideo” translates to “dry soup with noodles.” It’s not soup, it’s called a “dry soup” because the noodles absorb all of the wonderful rich stock, making the noodles taste more delicious than you can possibly imagine.
The dish is made with thin noodles, angel hair pasta or vermicelli. My mother makes this dish at least once a month and we were raised just calling it by the noodle name, vermicelli. All you have to do is say that word and the collective eyes of our family light up with glee.
Although it can be made with straight noodles, we always make fideo with the twirled nests. It’s pretty, and easier to serve that way, one nest, one serving. The dish can be used as an alternative to Spanish Rice in accompanying a meal.
The trick to a great sopa seca de fideo is the chicken broth. Over the hundreds of times we’ve made this dish over the last fifty years we’ve used bouillon, boxed broth, and homemade chicken stock.
While bouillon and the boxes work in a pinch, nothing beats homemade stock for this recipe. It brings a richness that can’t be had any other way. So if you try it, I strongly urge you to use homemade stock!
Sopa Seca de Fideo (Mexican-style Angel Hair Nests) Recipe
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
If you can’t find angel hair nests at the market, you can make fideo with straight vermicelli pasta. Just break up the pasta in 3 to 4 inch long segments and cook the same way as you would the nests, browning them first in hot oil.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound angel hair nests or vermicelli. (Vermicelli usually comes in 1 pound packages, so about 1/2 a package.)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
- 2 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1/2 cup crushed canned tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper
Method
1 Brown the angle hair nests: Choose a frying pan with a lid in which the angel hair nests will all tightly fit in a single layer (about 9 or 10-inches wide, depending on the brand of angel hair nests you use). In the pan, heat the oil until shimmering hot.
Working in batches, fry the vermicelli angel hair nests on both sides in the hot oil until golden brown in color. Remove from pan.
2 Sauté onions, add tomatoes, broth: Add the chopped onions to the pan and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes. Add the chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3 Cook angel hair nests in simmering broth: Bring the broth mixture to a simmer. When broth is simmering, place the browned angel hair nests or vermicelli in a single layer in the pan, nestled into the broth. The nests should cover the whole pan. Turn them over in the broth so that they get moistened on all sides. Cover and cook until the vermicelli has soaked up the liquid, about 5 minutes.
If after 5 minutes the top of the vermicelli is dry, flip over the individual angel hair nests and cook a minute longer. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
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