Crab and Tomato Rice Noodle Soup

The many varieties of the Vietnamese cuisine are reflected in the ways in which meals are served. The only  meal that satisfies my taste buds is the crab and tomato rice noodle soup (translated as Bun Rieu Cua). My mom used to make this soup with the dark brown crab found in rice fields.  As a kid, we really had fun when pulling out this crab out of the mud with a stick. I don't think this kind of crap will be sold in the United States any time soon. Even today, I still remember how wonderful this bowl of savory soup being served was. The blue King crab can be substituted for the dark brown muddy crab. This soup is another one of many healthy meals because the ingredients are a combination of seafood, meat, tofu, and vegetables. Last year, I posted this same recipe but in a version for vegetarians. The differences for this recipe are the broth, crabs, and meat. Being at the end of the tomato growing season is another reason for me to make this soup because this year my garden provided quite a lot of ripe tomatoes. Dried rice noodles come in various thicknesses. For this recipe, I prefer the medium-thin rice noodles. Just follow the instructions on the package to cook noodles. To complete this meal, serve with a Vietnamese vegetable plate with several fragrant herbs, such as mints, saw-leaf (ngo gai), cilantro, etc.. Water spinach (rau muong) and banana blossoms (bap chuoi) are two main vegetable ingredients on the Vietnamese plate, if they are available.

 Ingredients:
1 lb crab meat
1/4 lb ground chicken or pork
1/4 lb shrimp, shelled, deveined
1/4 cup dried shrimp soaked in the water for 1 hour
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp shrimp paste
3 tbs fish sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 cup chopped white onions
16 oz medium firm tofu, cut into small squares
2 lbs fresh tomatoes
1 tsp red chili powder
16 cups chicken broth

 

 

Serving:
Cooked rice noodles
Garnish:
Thinly sliced white onions
Green onions, chopped
Red chili, finely sliced
Lime cut into wedges
Vietnamese vegetables plate

 Directions:
To make crab paste:
Drain the dried shrimp and fine grind in a food processor and fine grind the fresh shrimp as well. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine shrimp, ground meat, and crab. Break the eggs into the crab-meat mixture. Add half of the garlic and shallots. Season with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbs sugar, and shrimp paste. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.

Heat frying pan. Fry bean curds until golden brown and set aside. Roughly chop half of the tomatoes and cut the other half of tomatoes into wedges and set aside.

 

 

In a medium pan, add about 1/4 cup oil. Sauté the white onions, the rest of the shallots, and garlic until fragrant.

 

 Add tomato, sugar, and salt. Add chili powder, and stirfry until tender (this process makes the soup have the red-golden color).

 Add the broth and bring to full boil.

 Slowly add the crab-meat mixture into the boiling broth. Cover with lid and turn off the heat.

Let it sit covered for 1 hour parentheses this process will make the crab-meat mixture float on the surface). Uncover lid and turn the heat on. Bring the soup back to simmer for another hour and a haft. Add tofu and the rest of the tomato wedges and simmer for 30 minutes.

Season soup with fish sauce and salt if needed.

To serve:

Divide the noodles on the bottom of serving bowl. Pour the hot broth, including a few tofu, tomato wedges, and crabs. Sprinkle with white onions, green onions, and cilantro.