Crab and Shrimp Udon (Banh Canh Tom Cua)

Name: Crab and Shrimp Udon (Banh Canh Tom Cua)
Total time: 14400 s
Yield: 4 people
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 pounds pig trotters (rounds); 1 pound head on shrimp; 5-7 blue crabs or canned lump crab meat; 1 pound pork blood cubed (optional); 1 bunch scallions, sliced; Neutral oil; 1 small onion; 1 shallot, minced; 3 tbsp fish sauce; 1 tbsp shrimp paste; 2 tbsp sugar; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp pepper; 1 tbsp annatto seed oil; 3 eggs; 4 tbsp crab paste (rieu cua); 1/2 pound ground pork; 1/4 cup cornstarch; 2 packs banh canh noodles (Vietnamese udon) use regular if cannot find

Kat Truong @katfood7

NYC

A classic Vietnamese dish, amplified in flavor. We are not wasting anything, every part of fresh shrimp and blue crab is used to achieve the most flavorful broth.

Kat Truong @katfood7

NYC

A classic Vietnamese dish, amplified in flavor. We are not wasting anything, every part of fresh shrimp and blue crab is used to achieve the most flavorful broth.

Saved

Ingredients

4 hours

4 people

3 poundspig trotters (rounds)
1 poundhead on shrimp
5-7blue crabs or canned lump crab meat
1 poundpork blood cubed (optional)
1 bunchscallions, sliced
Neutral oil
1small onion
1shallot, minced
3 tbspfish sauce
1 tbspshrimp paste
2 tbspsugar
1 tspsalt
1 tsppepper
1 tbspannatto seed oil
3eggs
4 tbspcrab paste (rieu cua)
1/2 poundground pork
1/4 cupcornstarch
2 packsbanh canh noodles (Vietnamese udon) use regular if cannot find

Saved

Steps

4 hours

1

Steam blue crab for 8-10 minutes if using live crab, omit if using lump crab meat. Open crabs, save tomalley, separate meat from shell. Save everything, do not throw away any shells or scraps. Wash shells with water and set aside.
2

Peel and devein shrimp, save heads and shell. Blend raw shrimp in food processor with a few pieces of chopped scallion, salt, pepper, until a smooth paste is formed. Set aside.
3

Wash pig trotters with salt. Boil for 5 minutes or until the scum comes to the top. Wash again and dry.
4

In a bowl, mix together crab paste, crab tomalley (if using fresh blue crab), eggs, shallots, garlic ground pork, and 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper. Scoop the mixture into crab shells and steam for 10 minutes. If not using crab shells, place the mixture in a pot with a little water on the bottom, cover and cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes or until it sets.
5

Heat up oil in a pot, throw in shrimp and crab shells. Stir fry for a few minutes then pour in water to the top of the pot (around 6 quarts of water). Add the pig trotters and onion. Bring to a boil then simmer for 2.5 hours or until the pig trotters are soft, skimming the scum periodically. Remove them, and strain the soup.
6

Bring the broth to a boil and season with fish sauce, shrimp paste, sugar, and black pepper (to taste). Scoop the blended shrimp with a spoon and drop it straight into the soup. Once the soup boils again, make a slurry with cornstarch and some water and add into the soup while stirring. You can adjust the thickness of the soup by adding more or less cornstarch. Turn off heat once it thickens and add some scallion whites.
7

(Optional) Boil some pork blood in a separate pot for 10 minutes, cut into cubes.
8

To assemble, place cooked noodles in bowl. Add in shrimp balls, pork blood, pig trotters, chopped scallions, and crab custard in the middle. Pour in broth. Top with anatto seed oil.