If you’re craving a flavorful noodle soup and you have a lot of tomatoes on hand, try Bún Riêu!
What is Bun Rieu?
Bún Riêu is a popular Vietnamese noodle soup with round rice vermicelli noodles served in a tomato-based broth and a variety of toppings, such crab meatballs/crab cakes, fried tofu and blood cake.
This noodle soup is often enjoyed with fresh vegetables and herbs, with split water spinach stems (Rau Muống) being the most popular, along with a squeeze of lime.
Fermented shrimp paste is often served on the side for further customization.
Traditionally, the broth is made from rice paddy crabs. The small crabs are pounded into a paste with a mortar and pestle then mixed with water. The mixture is poured into a pot with the small bits of crab meat, leaving the shells behind.
This strained liquid, along with the crab meat, forms the base for Bún Riêu broth.
However, more modern and western versions often use a a heartier stock made from pork and/or chicken bones.
In this version of Bún Rêu, we’ll use the heartier option with pork bones, as finding pounded rice paddy crabs in the United States can be challenging, if not impossible.
If you are looking for a Bún Riêu recipe made with fresh crab, click here.
What You Will Need
To make this version of Bún Riêu, gather the following ingredients:
- Pork or chicken bones — You can use either pork or chicken bones or a combination of the two for the stock. I like to use meaty pork bones, such as pork spare ribs and pork neck bones so I can enjoy the meat as well. If you are looking for chicken bones, Asian supermarkets often sale chicken carcasses for stock-making purposes.
- Tomatoes — Use very ripe tomatoes to get a more vibrant red color for the broth. You can also use canned tomatoes if fresh tomatoes aren’t available.
- Fried tofu — You can find fried tofu in either the refrigerator or freezer sections of many Asian grocery stores. If you can’t locate fried tofu, you can fry your own tofu using firm tofu. Drain them thoroughly and towel dry. Cut them into small blocks then pan fry with neutral oil until golden brown on all sides.
- Pork blood cake — This is an optional topping if you enjoy it. Otherwise, omit. You can get them already cooked at Asian supermarkets in the refrigerated section or cook them yourself.
- Ketchup — Since we doing a western version of Bún Riêu, we will use another western favorite. Ketchup adds a tangy sweetness to the broth, which replaces the need for sugar. It also adds more redness to the broth. Don’t have ketchup? Simply use your favorite sweetener. Depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes, you may not need much.
- Garlic and shallots — The aromatics we will be using.
- Neutral oil — For pan frying the garlic and shallots to release their aorma. I’m using vegetable oil.
- Ground pork, eggs, dried salted shrimp, and jarred/canned crab paste — These are the ingredients for the crab meatballs/crab cakes.Sometimes, I include ground pork for a meatier version that can be shaped into meatballs.Other times, I leave out the ground pork for a more delicate crab cake texture, similar to the traditional paddy crab Bún Riêu. This thinner mixture doesn’t need to be shaped into meatballs; it’s simply poured into the hot broth to cook.You can get the crab paste in either jars or cans in many Asian supermarkets. See picture below. Sometimes they are labeled as minced crab in spices. This is the western alternative to freshly pounded rice paddy crabs and it comes already seasoned.
- Seasonings: Fermented shrimp paste (Mắm Ruốc), salt, chicken or mushroom bouillon powder, and and MSG.One of the most distinctive seasonings in Bún Riêu is fermented shrimp paste (mắm ruốc). This highly pungent seasoning adds a unique salty umami flavor to the broth. See picture above.Bouillon powder and MSG are optional but highly recommended for a more authentic flavor. You can alternatively skip them and adjust to taste with additional salt.
- Round rice noodles — My favorite rice noodles are made from the same brand as my favorite rice, which is either Three Ladies, Buddha, or Dragon Fly. Look for medium rice noodles.
- Garnishes — You can use a combination of thinly sliced scallions/green onions and/or cilantro to top the bowl for a beautiful finish.
- Fresh vegetables — Water spinach is also known as Rau Muống in Vietnamese and Ong Choy in Cantonese. The tubular stem is the highly prized part of the water spinach and a must-have vegetable to eat with Bún Riêu. It’s normally shredded into thin strips using this cool gadget. Water spinach can get pricey in the colder months or not even be available. If that’s the case, use finely shredded white/purple cabbage instead. You can also use bean sprouts.
- Fresh herbs and limes — A collection of herbs is known Rau Thơm in Vietnamese. For bún riêu, you can use the following herbs: perilla (tía tô), spearmint (húng lũi), Vietnamese balm (kinh giới), fish mint (diếp cá), and sorrel (rau chua). A squeeze of lime is added tableside. The acidity complements the rich broth nicely.
Full recipe below. Happy cooking!
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