YummY Vietnam

Bún riêu (Vietnamese crab noodle soup) is a common dish, which has gotten familiar with many generations of Vietnamese people for a long time. According to many kinds of research, the crab noodle soup is originated from the North, then popularized in all regions of Vietnam and gradually become one of the favorite breakfast dishes of Vietnamese people.

Crab noodle soup has a distinct taste between North and South. Originating from the Red River Delta region, the dish has followed the recipe of the North with the elegant and pure taste that stands out the main ingredients. The dish has a slightly sweet taste, not sugar, less salty, can be served with vegetables and shrimp paste.

If the method of cooking Hanoi crab noodle soup in particular and the North in general, people use only crabs to make broth; in the South, people add pork bones to make a slightly sweet taste. The color of the Southern noodle is also more attractive because of using tomatoes and cashews. Other ingredients like pork blood, pork rolls, fried beans, and spring rolls are added. Specifically, the crab noodle soup in the South cannot lack sugar, which depends on each region’s taste.

Vegetables served with this soup in the North and South of Vietnam are also different; usually, this dish will be served with some vegetables such as shredded water spinach, lettuce, bean sprouts, banana flower, perilla, and vietnamese balm.

Crab noodles soup is delicious or not, it depends on the broth. The standard Hanoi broth must have a mild sourness of vinegar with tomatoes to enrich the sweetness of the crab. Over the years, crab noodles soup has changed a lot to satisfy eaters, the vendors combine crab noodles soup with a variety of ingredients such as beef, sausages and rib cartilage, which enrich the taste. If you want to try the traditional taste of this dish, you should visit some addresses in Hanoi such as (Bun rieu - No. 11 Hang Bac, Bun rieu - No. 2F Quang Trung, No. 16 Hang Luoc and Number 75 Hang Bong …). Those are places where is famous for making the soup for a long time since the dish just concludes rice noodles and crab soup.

The way to cook crab noodles soup is quite complicated; however, all the steps will be simpler if you know the standard recipe. If you want to try a home-made dish, you can refer to the recipe below.

Ingredients for making Bun Rieu:

• 500g crabs
• 300g pork bone
• 3 pieces of tofu
• A few colocasia gigantea, 300g tomatoes
• Herbs: lettuce, perilla, marjoram, shredded banana flower
• Dried onions, green onions, and sawtooth coriander
• Cooking oil, rice vinegar, salt, seasonings, MSG, shrimp paste.

How to cook crab noodles soup

Step 1:

Put the crabs into a pot and wash, grind crabs’ body with a little salt, take crab-roe.

Pour water little by little into ground crabs and slightly squeeze, then wait for crab meat floats, then take the crab water.

Cook over the low heat until crab meat float into pieces.

Step 2:

Boil the pork bones. Then wash again, and stir-fry the bones with seasonings.

Until the bones are fragrant, pour the water and simmer, skim the foam to make the broth clear.

Step 3:

Cut tofu into small square pieces, then put in frying oil pan. Fry until they are golden, take them out into a bowl.

Step 4:

Peel and slice the dried onions, stir-fry in oil pan until it’s golden and fragrant. Then take dried onion into a bowl

Step 5:

Chop tomatoes, stir-fry with seasonings and cooking oil which has just used.

When tomatoes are cooked, add crab-roe until it is dissolved.

Chop green onions and sawtooth coriander. Wash vegetables and drain.

Step 6:

When the soup is boils, and it appears big crab-roe pieces, you slide it a side and add the bone broth and fried tomatoes. Add rice vinegar to make sour taste, add seasonings.

Before enjoying, add fried tofu, and boil again.

Step 7:

Blanch rice noodles, sprinkle green onions, sawtooth coriander and dried onions on the top.

Pour the broth over the surface of rice noodles, you can add shrimp paste if you like.