Vietnamese Crab-cake Noodle Soup | Bún Riêu

Name: Vietnamese Crab-cake Noodle Soup | Bún Riêu
Total time: 7200 s
Yield: 8-10 people
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 lbs pork bones (blanched & cleaned); 2 lbs pork ribs (chopped)(blanched & cleaned); 1.5 oz dried shrimp (rehydrated in hot water); 1 jumbo yellow onion; 2 large shallots; 3 tsp sea salt; 4 oz rock sugar; 1 lb ground pork; 14 oz lump crab meat; 14 oz can minced crab in spices for bun rieu; 1/2 jar (3.5 oz) crab paste in bean oil; 1/2 jar (3.5 oz) shrimp paste in bean oil; 1.5 oz dried shrimp (rehydrated & finely minced); 7 large eggs; 1 Tbs Mắm ruốc; 1 Tbs Sugar; 1.5 tsp Chicken bouillon; 1/2 tsp MSG; 1 tsp Ground black pepper; 3 Tbs Corn starch; 1 large shallot (minced); 5 cloves garlic (minced); 1/2 cup annatto seed oil; 5 Roma tomatoes; 1 pkg cooked Oc bu (apple snails); 1/2 jar crab paste in bean oil; 1/2 jar shrimp paste in bean oil; 1 cooked pork blood (cubed); Fried tofu; Vermicelli noodles

Quoc Nguyen | Chef Q @chefqstr

Katy, Texas USA

The original Bún riêu is made of rice paddy crabs. Which have little to no crab meat. They used the whole crab (shells and all) to make the crab paste for the “rieu” and broth. While it definitely gives it more of a crab flavor for the broth, the rieu also has a grainy texture from the crab shells. Not my favorite part when it comes to authentic bun rieu. Here in the states, we are blessed with an abundant of ingredients and quality selections of crabs and shrimp. Although this is not traditional bun rieu, it is an upgraded version in my opinion. Better ingredients and more quality bowl of bun rieu!

Quoc Nguyen | Chef Q @chefqstr

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Ingredients

2 hrs

8-10 people

Base Bone Broth
3 lbspork bones (blanched & cleaned)
2 lbspork ribs (chopped)(blanched & cleaned)
1.5 ozdried shrimp (rehydrated in hot water)
1jumbo yellow onion
2large shallots
3 tspsea salt
4 ozrock sugar
Riêu (crab cake) Mix
1 lbground pork
14 ozlump crab meat
14 ozcan minced crab in spices for bun rieu
1/2 jar (3.5 oz)crab paste in bean oil
1/2 jar (3.5 oz)shrimp paste in bean oil
1.5 ozdried shrimp (rehydrated & finely minced)
7large eggs
1 TbsMắm ruốc
1 TbsSugar
1.5 tspChicken bouillon
1/2 tspMSG
1 tspGround black pepper
3 TbsCorn starch
Sauté Snails & Tomatoes
1large shallot (minced)
5 clovesgarlic (minced)
1/2 cupannatto seed oil
5Roma tomatoes
1 pkgcooked Oc bu (apple snails)
1/2 jarcrab paste in bean oil
1/2 jarshrimp paste in bean oil
Other ingredients and condiments
1cooked pork blood (cubed)
Fried tofu
Vermicelli noodles
Green onions
Cilantro
Shredded banana flowers
Shredded ong Choy (rau muống)
Bean sprouts
Shredded lettuce/cabbage
Various Vietnamese mints
Lime
Additional seasonings
Mam ruốc (fermented shrimp paste)
Fish sauce
Chicken bouillon
msg

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Steps

2 hrs

1

Make base bone broth: combine all ingredients (EXCEPT for Pork ribs) in the “base bone broth” section with 7qt water & simmer on medium heat for 1.5 hrs. Add pork ribs & season with 2 cans Chicken broth, 2 tsp chicken bouillon, 1 tsp MSG, simmer another 30-40 minutes. (Skim and discard any foam that comes to the top during the process).
2

After ~2 hours, discard them onions, shallots, & dried shrimp. Keep pork ribs & bones as toppings for noodles later. Use a fine mesh strainer to filter out the broth.
3

In a separate small pot with 4-5 cups of water, add 2 Tbs mam ruốc. Bring to rolling boil & skim off foam that comes to the top. Turn off heat and set aside to let cloud settles for about 10 minutes. (After removing bones from broth) Slowly add clear water on top to the broth pot. Discard cloudy water at the bottom.
4

Make the crab cake mix (rieu): combine all ingredients in “rieu mix” section. Make sure there are no lumps of pork. Test out the consistency and taste by cooking a test sample in our broth pot. If you want a more firm texture, add more cornstarch. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
5

Add half of the rieu mix to the broth pot (make sure the broth pot is on high and on rolling boil). Do not touch or stir. Adjust heat back down to medium heat. Let simmer till rieu starts to float up as a big chunk (8-10 minutes). Skim the cooked rieu into a separate bowl for later toppings to our bun rieu bowl.
6

In a pan/wok, make annatto oil by using 1/2 cup neutral oil & frying 1 tsp of annatto seeds. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until deep colored oil. Remove seeds. Sauté in minced garlic and shallots. Bring out aroma before adding in apple snails, 1/2 jar crab paste in bean oil, and 1/2 jar shrimp paste in bean oil. Stirfry for 2 minutes before adding in wedged cut Roma tomatoes. Stirfry till tomatoes are a bit wilted, then add in broth pot.
7

Drop in lumps of rieu to make balls of cran cakes. Make sure to drop them in different area of pot each time to prevent it from sticking together as chunks. Add in pork blood, and tofu. Season with fish sauce to adjust to your taste.
8

Serve it up with vermicelli noodles and all the toppings & veggies!