Place chicken in a pot and cover with broth. Using a meat pounder [or the side of a knife], smash ginger and garlic pieces till they split open but don’t break apart. We want them to be large enough to easily remove from the pot before serving. Add to the broth along with the pepper, salt, shoyu, and sugar.

*If using dried shiitake mushrooms, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 20-3- minutes, until they have softened completely. Trim off stems and cut the caps into thin slices.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. This will take about 30-45 minutes. During the cooking, skim off any impurities from the chicken that float to the top.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it and shred, discarding bones and skin. Return the shredded pieces to the pot of broth along with the mushrooms, vermicelli noodles, and scallions.

Gently press the noodles down into the broth- as they soak up liquid they will soften and eventually turn translucent. This is how you know they are ready!

Remove the pieces of ginger and garlic from the broth. Divide chicken, mushrooms, and noodles between serving bowls, and spoon over desired amount of broth. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions.

[If you want a soup-like dish, serve with a lot of broth, as opposed to a couple spoonfuls for just chicken+noodles].

Enjoy hot!