Alongside beautiful scenery, Vietnam’s tourism brings many renowned specialties. Among them, Vietnamese crab noodle soup (bun rieu) stands out with its soft noodles, tasty broth, greasy crab paste, and various fresh vegetables, all coming together to create a truly unique dish. The distinctive taste of bun rieu will surely bring a delightful culinary experience during your Vietnam travel.
1. Origin and key ingredients of Vietnamese crab noodle soup
Bun rieu is a variation of Vietnamese vermicelli noodles with its origins in the northern region, which has now become a popular breakfast of the locals. The essential ingredients for a bowl of Vietnamese crab noodle soup include fresh rice noodles, crab paste, tomato, shrimp paste, vinegar, and scallion. Compared to traditional bun rieu, the version in Hanoi includes various other toppings such as stir-fried beef, pork cartilage, fried tofu, balut, snails, etc.
Unlike in Hanoi, people in Saigon prepare this Vietnamese food with more ingredients, as the dish here represents a harmonization of flavors from various places. In Saigon, diners can find numerous bun rieu stalls offering different Vietnamese crab noodle soup recipes which typically consist of rice noodles, crab cakes, tomatoes, shrimp paste, and tamarind sauce. Additionally, cooks often add cashew oil to give the broth a visually appealing red color.
2. How to make Vietnamese crab noodle soup?
2.1. Preparations
To cook a bowl of authentic Vietnamese crab noodle soup, you need to prepare the following ingredients:
- Crab
- Tomato
- Tofu
- Vermicelli
- Spinach, banana blossom, bean sprout, and basil
- Scallion, pepper, lemon, and onion
- Vinegar, salt, shrimp paste, and fish sauce
2.2. Instructions
Making bun rieu requires a series of steps to make a delicious savory broth. Refer to the following Vietnamese tomato crab noodle soup recipe for your breakfast:
- Soak the crab in water for about 1 hour, then rinse it. Peel the crab shell and set it aside.
- Put the crab in a mortar and add a little salt, then pound it finely. Put it in a pot with 3 large bowls of water, stir well, strain the liquid, and discard the crab residue.
- Use a small spoon to scrape out the crab paste, then put it in a small bowl.
- Clean the tofu, cut it into small pieces, and fry until golden.
- Clean the scallions, spinach, bean sprouts, basil, and tomatoes, then finely chop them.
- Slice the banana blossoms thinly crosswise and soak them in water mixed with vinegar.
- Stir-fry the crab paste with onions in oil, then remove it to a bowl. Stir-fry the tomatoes for about 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
- Bring the crab broth to a boil. When it boils, add the sauteed tomatoes. Continue cooking until the crab meat floats, then reduce the heat, add the sauteed crab paste, season to taste, and turn off the heat.
- Blanch the vermicelli in boiling water, then transfer it to a bowl. When eating, pour the crab broth over the noodles, add tofu and vegetables on top, and enjoy.
3. What is Vietnamese crab noodle soup served with?
Besides the delicious broth, to fully savor the flavors of Vietnamese crab noodle soup, you also need to mix in various spices and fresh vegetables, such as coriander, mint, lettuce, bean sprout, cilantro, basil, banana blossom, etc. To further enhance this noodle soup bowl, don’t forget to add some lemon, ground pepper, chili, bamboo shoots, or shrimp paste for an attractive taste.