Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup | Bun Rieu

Bún Riêu is a tangy Vietnamese noodle soup with a tomato-crab broth served with rice vermicelli noodles, juicy tofu puffs, pork spareribs and an array of herb toppings. It offers a harmonious mix of savory flavors and refreshing zest.

Instructions

To make the annatto oil:

Add 1 cup oil to a pan. Heat, and once oil is hot, remove pan from heat.
Add annatto seeds, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes for the red coloring from the annatto seeds to seep out.
Strain the oil into a small bowl and set aside for later use.

To make the broth:

Parboil the pork bones and spareribs to clean off all the impurities, then rinse with water.
In a 24 quart pot, add ½ cup of annatto oil and fry up the halved onions and shallots until they are nice and brown.
Add the cleaned pork bones and spareribs along with mushroom powder, salt, sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste and ⅓ cup dried shrimp.
Fill the pot with water to the brim.
Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and let simmer for 3 hours.
Periodically scoop the scum off top.

NOTE regarding spareribs:

Remove the spareribs from the pot AFTER 2 HOURS OF SIMMERING and put them in an ice cold water bath. Remove spareribs from water bath and put in the fridge. It’s easier to cut the spareribs into individual pieces once they have chilled.
Soak ⅓ cup of dried shrimp with warm water.

How to make the tomato mix:

In a separate pan, add ¼ cup of annatto oil and oil from the ‘crab paste with soya bean oil’ jar.
Sauté minced onions and shallots for a few minutes until they soften, then add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add shrimp paste and tomato paste and stir for a minute.
Then add the 3 quartered tomatoes and sprinkle salt and pepper to season them. Stir fry for a few minutes so all the flavors blend together and turn off heat. Scoop out 3 heaping tablespoons of this mix minus the tomatoes and set aside. Set pan aside.

How to make the crabcakes:

Take the soaked dried shrimp that has been drained, chop it with an electric mixer and add to a large bowl.
Add chopped shrimp, ground pork, eggs, crab paste from the jar, minced prawns from the can, and the 3 tablespoons of tomato mix and mix together.
Then add jumbo lump crabmeat and fold it into the mix.
Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour for the crab cakes to bind together, or until the 3 hours is up from simmering the broth.

To make puffy tofu:

Cut tofu blocks into 12 pieces. Heat frying oil to 375-380 degrees, then deep fry the tofu. Let it cool, then add to the broth.
Cook the vermicelli noodles as per instructions on the bag. Drain and set aside.
After simmering is complete, remove all of the pork bones, onions and shallots. Then strain so you just have the clear broth. Transfer it back into the pot, or in this case I like to transfer the broth to a 16 quart pot.
Pour the tomato mix in the pan that you set aside, into the broth. Also add the cleaned pork spareribs that you set aside earlier. Bring the broth to a boil to add the crabcakes.
Take crab mix out of the fridge. Scoop crab mix by the spoonful (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and gently immerse into the pot. Crabcakes will be cooked once they start floating to the top.
Bring the broth to a boil to add the crab cakes.
Take crab mix out of the fridge. Scoop crab mix by the spoonful (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and gently immerse into the pot. Crab cakes will be cooked once they start floating to the top.
Add fried tofu, quartered tomatoes and the one inch smashed green onions. Lower the heat and let it simmer for at least another 15 minutes and serve.
When serving, add vermicelli noodles into a bowl, pour broth to fill the bowl, add your desired garnish and squeeze a lime.

Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup | Bun Rieu

Ingredients

Annatto oil:

Broth:

Tomato mix:

Crab cake mix:

Ingredients:

Optional garnish: