Bun Rieu | Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup

Bun Rieu is a dish I don't eat often because I never get to it...meaning, I can't ever have enough of my favorite noodle bowls, so Bun Rieu always takes the back seat, and it's never the right time. Additionally, I don't get to it for these two main reasons:

• My family doesn't enjoy it as much as they do other types of noodles.
• The many ingredients in this dish makes it hard to prepare for just one person.

Because this dish requires many ingredients, do yourself a favor and prepare all the ingredients in advanced. From experience, I suggest you follow the order in this recipe to save the most time.

1- The Noodles: 

Vermicelli - boil the noodles with 1 teaspoon of salt and follow the directions on the package for boiling. Drain the water, shake the water out and separate the noodles as much as possible, this will keep the noodles from bunching up.

2- Make the Broth: 

1 12oz chicken broth
6 cups of water
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of mushroom powder
1/2 cup of fish sauce
1 yellow onion
Add the ingredients in a large pot and put the heat on high until boiling. In the meantime, work on making the rieu, which is #3. After the brothe boils, lower the heat down to medium.

 

3- Making the Rieu 

 Mix all the below ingredients into a bowl and set aside. See the astrik below for additional directions.
1 1/2 cup of peeled and devined shrimps minced (the standard recipe calls for minced pork) I like seafood, so I use shrimp instead.
1 bottle of crab paste
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

4- Making the Color

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of minced shallots
3 Roma tomatoes sliced into six pieces
1 tablespoon of paprika

Heat the oil in a pan and put the garlic anc shallot in, stir fried until fragrance and garlic turns light brown. Put in the sliced roma tomatoes into the pan and stir fried until juice releases. Add one tablespoon of paprika and stir well. When the mixture is well blended, pour into the pot of broth, and let blend well together.
*Bring broth back to a boil and slowly add the rieu mixture to the broth.  Let the broth come to a boil and then lower heat until ready to serve. Now you can move to making the salad.

5 -Making the Salad for Serving

Wash all the herbs below and tear off the leaves, then slice them thin have then ready to garnish the noodle bowls.
Rau ram
Cilantro
Peppermint leaves
Perilla leaves
Thin slices of yellow onions
Vietnamese sausage / cha lua cut into 1/8 thick slices

I didn't use any tofu in this recipe because our family are not fans of it. However, tofu is good for you and if you like it, add it at this time.

6- Presenting Bun Rieu:

1) In a bowl, put about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of noodle,
2) Add the thinly clied yellow onion,
3) Spread the beansprout in the bowl.
4) Add the chopped herbs
5) Laddle a genreous amount of soup and rieu into your bowl
6) Enjoy

image credits:
https://foodgawker.com/post/2014/12/07/413618/
http://saigonfoodtour.com/blog/savory-vietnamese-dishes-a-look-into-the-bun-family-part-one/