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Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup | Bun Rieu

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 4 hours
Servings: 15 bowls
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.

Ingredients 

Annatto oil:

  • ½ cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • 1 Tbsp annatto seeds

Broth:

  • 8-10 lbs pork neck bone
  • 2 lbs pork spareribs
  • ¼ cup annatto oil
  • 3 onions, cut in half lengthwise
  • 3 large shallots, cut in half lengthwise
  • ½ cup mushroom powder
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp rock sugar
  • ⅓ cup fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp tamarind paste
  • ⅓ cup dried shrimp

Tomato mix:

  • ¼ cup annatto oil
  • oil from the jar of crab paste with soya bean oil
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 2 large shallots, minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Tbsp Mam Tom, shrimp paste
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 tomatoes, quartered
  • salt and pepper, to season

Crab cake mix:

  • ⅓ cup dried shrimp, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, minced
  • 1 lb shrimp, peeled, chopped
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 8 eggs
  • 7 oz jar crab paste with soya bean oil
  • 5.6 oz can minced prawns in spices
  • 3 Tbsp tomato mix
  • 16 oz jumbo lump crabmeat, strained and squeeze juice out

Ingredients:

  • 4 14 oz soft tofu, cut into rectangles, deep fried
  • vermicelli noodles
  • 15 tomatoes, quartered
  • 8 green onions, smashed, cut in one inch lengths

Optional garnish:

  • green onions, chopped
  • cilantro, chopped
  • bean sprouts
  • water spinach, thinly sliced
  • cabbage or red leaf lettuce, julienned (cabbage)
  • basil
  • mint leaves
  • perilla leaves
  • lime wedges

Instructions

To make the annatto oil:

  • On medium heat in a small saucepan, add ½ cup oil to a pan.
  • 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, on medium high heat, add 1/4 cup annatto oil and fry up the halved onions and halved shallots until they are nice and brown on both sides.
  • Add the cleaned pork bones and spareribs along with mushroom powder, salt, sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste and 1/3 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 an hour of simmering and put them in an ice cold water bath. Remove spareribs from water bath and put in the fridge for a couple of hours while the broth is simmering. It’s easier to cut the spareribs into individual pieces once they have chilled.

How to make the tomato mix:

  • In a 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. Set aside.

How to make the crabcakes:

  • Soak ⅓ cup of dried shrimp with warm water for 15 minutes.
  • Take the soaked dried shrimp and drained.
  • Add dried shrimp to a small electric mixer or manually chop with a knife.
  • In a large bowl, add chopped dried shrimp. along with chopped fresh shrimp, ground pork, eggs, crab paste from the jar, minced prawns from the can, and 3 tablespoons of tomato mix and mix together.
  • Add crabmeat last so you can gently 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.

Assembling everything else:

  • To make puffy tofu: cut tofu blocks into 12 pieces. Heat frying oil to 380 degrees, then deep fry the tofu. Set aside.
  • 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 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. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 1075kcal | Carbohydrates: 112g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 367mg | Sodium: 5407mg | Potassium: 1093mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1480IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 4mg

Equipment

  • 24 quart pot
  • 16 quart pot

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