On cold days, there is nothing you crave more than a huge bowl of piping hot, steamy, soup. The Vietnamese side of me really comes out on those days. I love all the Vietnamese noodle soups that I had growing up. Beside the ubiquitous and well-known pho, bun rieu is an equally delicious Vietnamese noodle soup. Bun rieu, a crab and tomato noodle soup featuring pork bone broth, hails from the north of Vietnam and is as equally loved as pho.
For other winter comfort foods, check out:
French Beef Burgundy Stew
Albondigas Soup
Chinese Sticky Rice with Preserved Meats
Bun rieu has a garlicky, tomato, pork, and crab flavor base, which makes it very different in flavor from pho. Unlike pho, which uses warming spices like clove, star anise, and cinnamon, this crab and tomato noodle soup is much simpler when it comes to spices. Most of its flavor comes from fermented shrimp paste, jarred crab paste, fresh tomato, and fish sauce.
Making bone broth: Parboiling
One popular method for making a clear broth is the parboiling method, which is often used in Chinese and Vietnamese soups. This will ensure pure and clean broth almost every time. Steps for parboiling:
- Bring a big pot of water to boil
- Place your bones in
- Allow bones to cook on medium high heat for 5-10 minutes
- When you see most of the impurities (i.e. foam) form at the top, remove pot from heat and discard all the water from your pot
- Rinse your bones clean
- Fill your bones with a fresh pot of water.
- Boil ones until they reach a boil again.
- Once bones reach a boil, lower your heat to a simmer
- Simmer bones for 2-3 hours for best results
- Occasionally scoop out the brownish foam from the top with a sieve
How Do I Make a Flavorful Broth for Bun Rieu?
Pork neck bones or pork leg bones are usually a great way to start with the broth. Long before bone broth became popular in mainstream American diets, Asian people were capitalizing on this delicious concoction and including it as a base for most soups.
Also, don’t be afraid to use shrimp paste, plenty of crab paste, and fish sauce.
How do I Eat Bun Rieu?
There are so many fresh veggie and herb toppings for this noodle soup dish. Most of it depends on your personal preference and taste:
- fresh mint
- ong choy
- bean sprouts
- lettuce
- banana flower
- fresh lime juice/lemon juice
How do I make the crab/pork meatballs?
My personal preference is actually having some body and bite to the crab/pork meatballs in bun rieu. This is why I add extra ground pork and crab in my meatball mixture and use less egg. Some people like these meatballs to be a bit runnier, so they add more egg and have less meat and crab in it. This recipe features more solid pork and crab meatballs.
Bun Rieu-Vietnamese Crab Tomato Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Soup
- 2 lb pork neck bones/pork leg bones
- 3 quarts water
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2-3 tbsp shrimp paste
- 1 jar Thai-style garlic crab paste
- 5 tomatoes cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 pack fried tofu
Meatballs
- 1.5 lb ground pork
- 3 cups crab meat
- 1 cup raw shrimp ground
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp crab paste
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp pepper
Noodle & Toppings
- 1 pack rice vermicelli noodles
- 4 quarts water
- 1 bunch ong choy/morning glory
- 1 bunch mint
- 1 bunch mung bean sprouts
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch green onion
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
Broth
- Bring a large stockpot of water to boil on high heat. When water is boiling, place all pork bones into the water. Allow to boil on high heat for 5-8 minutes, or until no more blood/impurities appear in the water.
- Discard the water from the bones. Wash the bones of any foam or impurities. Then fill the pot with 4 quarts of water, making sure that the water covers all the bones. Bring this pot to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to medium for a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 2 hours.
- Add salt, sugar, fish sauce, shrimp paste, crab paste, and tomato paste into the broth. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Then add meatballs.
Meatballs
- Mix together ground pork, crab meat, ground shrimp, fish sauce, salt, sugar, crab paste, eggs, and pepper together. Set aside.
- Using a large spoon, drop meatball mixture into the pot of simmering broth by large spoonfuls. Allow to simmer in the broth for at least 5 minutes without mixing. Mixing will break up the meatballs.
Finishing the Broth
- Add in tomato wedges and fried tofu. Simmer on medium heat for another 10-15 minutes until tomatoes have just softened and the tofu has begun to absorb the broth.
- Taste for seasoning and add crab paste, fish sauce, shrimp paste, sugar, or water to taste.
Vermicelli Noodles
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on high heat. Add in vermicelli noodles. Follow package directions to cook. Then drain and rinse with cold water. Allow to drain at least 10 minutes before serving.
Vegetables
- Bring a large pot of water to boil on high heat. Add in ong choy/morning glory. Boil ong choy/morning glory for 5 minutes. Then drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Repeat for bean sprouts.
Assembling a Bowl of Noodle Soup
- Place cooked vermicelli at the base of the large bowl. Then add in cooked ong choy/morning glory and bean sprouts.
- Pour generous amounts of broth over noodles. Include pork bones, meatballs, tofu, and tomatoes.
- Top with green onion and cilantro. Serve with a wedge of lime or lemon.
Happy cooking! Tag me on Instagram @jennskitchendiary if you’ve made this dish! Would love to see how it turned out.
