Vietnamese Crab and Tomato Noodle Soup / Bún Riêu
My favorite Vietnamese noodle soup is Bún Riêu! It's a fantastic noodle soup that is vastly underrated. Here's my easy and tasty recipe in six steps!
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 3 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 8 quarts Water
- 4 lbs Pork Ribs
- 1/2 cup Dried Shrimp
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 2 cubes Bún Riêu Seasoning
- 7 oz Crab Paste With Soya Oil
- 4 large Roma Tomatoes
- 3 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 inch Nub of Rock Sugar
- 3 tbsp MSG
- 1 tbsp Mắm Ruốc (fermented shrimp paste) (Optional)
- Salt to Taste
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 16 oz Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
- 7 oz Crab Paste With Soya Oil
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 32 oz Vermicelli Noodles
- Chả chiên (Fried Vietnamese Ham)
- Tofu Puffs
- Green Leaf Lettuce
- Banana Blossom (Optional)
- Beansprouts (Optional)
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
- Vietnamese Perilla
- Limes
- Thai Chili
- Fermented Shrimp Paste
Instructions
- 1
Broth:
- 2
Parboil pork ribs, then rinse and clean pork under cold water
- 3
To a clean stockpot, add eight quarts of water and bring up to a boil. Add cleaned pork, a whole yellow onion, and half a cup of rehydrated dried shrimp
- 4
Bring up to a boil, skim off any impurities, and let that simmer covered on low for 2 hours
- 5
While the broth is simmering, prep toppings and garnishes
- 6
Toppings:
- 7
Thinly slice green leaf lettuce and finely chop up green onions, cilantro, and Thai chili. Chiffonade Vietnamese perilla, and slice Vietnamese ham.
- 8
Noodles:
- 9
Cook vermicelli noodles in heavily salted water, and when they’re done cooking, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Toss in oil to ensure the noodles don’t stick together
- 10
Finish Broth:
- 11
Remove onion, pork, and shrimp from the stock, and season broth with rock sugar, MSG, and fish sauce. Then add two cubes of bun rieu seasoning and just the oil from a jar of crab paste with soya oil
- 12
Rieu/Meatballs:
- 13
Make crab meatballs by combining group pork, the remaining crab paste, and eggs—season with fish sauce and salt and pepper. Add jumbo lump crab and gently fold in the mixture, making sure not to break up the crab too much. Form loose balls with a spoon and drop them into the stock pot. When they’re cooked through, they’ll float to the top
- 14
Add Roma tomatoes and tofu puffs, and adjust the seasoning to taste
- 15
Assembly:
- 16
To serve, add generous amounts of veggies, noodles, and proteins. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, Thai chili, a squeeze of lime, and fermented shrimp paste