YummY Vietnam

When mentioning the culinary culture of Saigon, people often think of dishes such as broken rice, rice noodle soup, mixed rice paper salad… and crab thick rice noodle soup is hardly thought of. Firstly, because this dish is changed a lot and has a lot of different versions, secondly because this crab thick rice noodle soup is not too cheap to eat anytime, and it is not sole in every corner of the street. However, over the years, this dish has quietly existed and developed in Saigon. If the familiar dishes can’t make you appetizing, crab thick rice noodle soup is a good choice to try.

Crab thick rice noodle soup is appeared on “must-try” list of famous vloggers many times when they visit Ho Chi Minh City. This dish is also introduced on the food program of Korean TV station named EBS. Foreign tourists not only enjoy its eye-catching and attractive appearance, but also immerse in the fat, delicious taste of the crab thick rice noodle soup.

There are many types of thick rice noodle soup such as shrimp or pork thick noodle soup, but crab thick rice noodle soup is the most popular and preferable dish. Thick rice noodles are made from tapioca or rice flour, which is bigger than normal noodles in the North, with slightly white and transparent color, chewier than vermicelli rice noodles. The broth is the mix of thick paste with sweetness from meat, crab and seafood and some other ingredients, not as thin as the noodle soup in the North. In addition to the thick noodles and crabs, a soup dish is often served with quail eggs, cooked pork blood, shrimp, shrimp and fish cake … Some addresses which you can enjoy this dish are highly recommended such as: Hoang Lan Crab Soup - 484 Vinh Vien, Ward 08, District 10; Banh Canh 14 - 223A Tran Binh Trong, Ward 3, District 5; Hoa Binh Crab Soup - 45 Bach Van, District 5 …

If you do not want to eat out, you can make a home-made dish. This crab soup is quite sophisticated and undergoes many stages, but if you know the standard recipe below, you can definitely cook a delicious bowl of Crab thick rice noodle soup.

Ingredients (for 6 people)

- Sea-crab: 2

- Sugpo prawn: 10

- Pork shank (or pig’s trotters): 400-500gr

- Pork blood cubes: 500gr

- Quail eggs: 20-30

- Straw mushroom: 200gr

- Green onion, seasoning, fish sauce, cashew oil

- Tapioca: 100gr (make thick paste)

For Thick rice noodles:

- Rice flour: 200gr

- Tapioca flour: 200gr

- Water: 700ml

- A little bit salt

* You can change sea crab by 5 sentinel crab.

* if you want thick noodles chewier, you can add more flour than rice flour.

How to cook

Step 1: Tie pork shank tightly, boil within 45 minutes until pork shank is completed. Then take out and put in a bowl of cold water to avoid bruising then slice. The broth is used to cook the soup.

Step 2: Boil the shank and the quail eggs at the same time. Soak in cold water when finish and peel.

Step 3: If the blood is still liquid, you should process it: mix blood with water at the rate of 1:1,5. Then the blood freeze like jelly. Boil water and add the blood for about 15 minutes.

Step 4: Wash the crabs. Remove abdomen and crab shell, cut the body into 4 parts.

Step 5:Wash the shrimps, cut their heads.

Step 6: Wash the straw mushroom. Cut into 2 parts

Step 7: Add cashew oil, red shallot or green onion to fry.

Step 8: Add the shrimp and crabs, stir well. You stir gently not to break the crab-roe.

Step 9: Add seasoning. Be careful not to fry too long if not the shrimp and crab meat will be dry.

Step 10: Add all stir-fried shrimp and crabs in the pot of the broth. Cook for 10-12 minutes.

Do not cook for too long because the shrimp and crab meat will be dry. At this step, you should cook under medium heat.

Step 11: Take shrimp and crab into a bowl. Remove the shrimp and crabs shells (if you want)

Step 12: Boil blood, cut into 1cm thick pieces, size with 2 fingers.

Step 13: Cook the mushrooms for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of seasoning and 5 tablespoons of sugar (you can reduce it depending on your taste. But this dish is tastier when it is a bit sweet).

Step 14: Dissolve 100gr of tapioca flour. Slowly pour to the pot until the broth becomes consistent. If you want more red colour, you can add more cashew.

Step 15: Add blood into the pot when the broth has been seasoned and consistent. Gently stir to avoid breaking the blood. So we finish the soup.

With the flour for making thick noodles: Mix rice flour and tapioca flour together, add a little salt. Dissolve with water.

 

Add the dissolved flour to the pot, set medium heat and cook the flour until it becomes a paste. Those who cooked dough will know this.

Add the dough into a pastry bag. Cut a small hole, then squeeze into a pot of boiling water to boil the noodles. When the noodle floats to the surface, take it out and put in a bowl of cold water.

We finish home-made thick rice noodles.

Finally, add thick noodles with crabs, shrimp, shank, quail eggs, scallions and add the broth with blood and mushrooms.