an easy bun rieu recipe that I make after work! | Vietnamese crab, pork and tomato soup | Bún Riêu

crab meat

🥗Healthier: tofu

💰Cheaper: canned crab

Tofu provides a vegetarian option, while canned crab is more affordable.

pork

🥗Healthier: chicken

💰Cheaper: ground turkey

Chicken is leaner, and ground turkey is often less expensive.

fish sauce

🥗Healthier: soy sauce

💰Cheaper: salt

Soy sauce is a gluten-free alternative, while salt is a basic substitute.

rice vermicelli

🥗Healthier: zucchini noodles

💰Cheaper: spaghetti

Zucchini noodles are lower in carbs, while spaghetti is a budget-friendly alternative.

Start by deshelling 1 pound of shrimp, mince 1 shallot and 6 cloves of garlic and roughly chop 2 large tomatoes. Chop up 3 stalks of green onion and a small bunch of cilantro. Wash the bean sprouts.

In a large pot, add in the stock and the shrimp shells and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

While your broth is brothing away, you can prep for the next step: the crab portion of the Vietnamese crab noodle soup! You’ll need 1 jar of crab paste in soy bean oil. Separate out as much of the oil as you can and save this for later. Next, you’re going to add 2 eggs, 1 cup of ground pork and 1 cup of crab meat to the extracted crab paste and stir. Set this aside for later.

Next, in a pan, heat up the reserved soy bean oil over medium low heat and then saute the minced garlic and shallot. Once they start smelling fragrant, add in the tomatoes and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. When the stock is done simmering, remove the shrimp shells, add in the tomato mixture and bring the pot to a boil. Then, add in 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste. Stir and add salt to taste.

Next, reduce the heat to medium and add the crab paste/egg mixture to the soup 1 spoonful at a time and let it boil for a little while. You’ll know when the meatballs are done when they float to the top of the soup. Then finally, add in the fried tofu puffs and let the broth simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.

While the soup is simmering, take your noodles and cook them according to the package. Strain and drain and run under cold water. This will prevent the noodles from cooking further and also rinse off the excess starch that is refusing to part ways with its noodle.

Next cook the shrimp. Drop all the shrimp into the soup and let them cook for a minute or two. Use a strainer so you can take them out easily (and not overcook!).

Final step is to assemble your bowl. Place an appropriate sized portion of noodles for you in a large bowl. Top with bean sprouts and shrimp, add the soup to the bowl and garnish with green onion and cilantro.

Cooking Techniques

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Dietary

Allergens