Bun rieu – Vietnamese tomato soup with crab meatballs Recipe
Bun rieu is an aromatic Vietnamese soup with rice noodles, a slightly sour tomato broth and delicate crab or fish meatballs. In Vietnam it’s often eaten as a quick lunch in street stalls, where a steaming bowl of soup replaces a whole meal. The taste is like a cross between a light fish soup and tomato soup, but with fresh herbs and lime that give it a completely different character.
Vietnam
Difficulty: Medium
☀️
Lunch
🍽️
Dinner
🌶️
Medium spicy
Sour
Umami
Fresh
Herby
Warming
Filling
Spicy
Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
60 min
Servings
4
Ingredients
- rice noodles flat, for soups - 300 g
- tomatoes medium, ripe - 4 pieces
- crab paste canned or frozen - 150 g
- minced pork - 150 g
- egg - 1 piece
- chicken stock homemade or from a good-quality stock cube - 1.2 l
- shallot or small onion - 2 piece
- garlic - 3 cloves
- shrimp paste optional, for deeper flavour - 1 tablespoon
- fish sauce - 3 tablespoons
- sugar - 1 teaspoon
- rice vinegar or lime juice to taste - 1 tablespoon
- mung bean sprouts for serving - 100 g
- fresh coriander chopped, for serving - 1 handful
- vegetable oil for frying - 2 tablespoons
- fresh chili optional, for serving - 1 pieces
Main Ingredient:
crab
Preparation
- Pour hot water over the rice noodles and leave for 15–20 minutes until softened, then drain and rinse with cold water to keep them from sticking.
- Finely chop the shallot and garlic. Cut the tomatoes into large cubes.
- In a bowl, mix the crab paste, minced pork, egg, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and a pinch of pepper. Mix the mixture by hand or with a spoon until uniform.
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and fry for 2–3 minutes until softened and fragrant but not browned.
- Add the tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes, stirring, until they start to break down and release their juices.
- Pour in the stock, add the shrimp paste (if using), 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and the sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium.
- Using a spoon, form small meatballs from the crab–pork mixture and gently drop them into the soup. Simmer for 10–12 minutes over low heat until the meatballs float to the surface and feel springy.
- Finally, season the soup with rice vinegar or lime juice, taste and add more fish sauce or sugar if needed so the flavour is slightly sour, salty and gently sweet.
- Divide the noodles between bowls and ladle the hot soup with meatballs over them. Top with mung bean sprouts, coriander and slices of chili as desired.
- Serve immediately, ideally very hot, so the noodles stay springy.
Storage
In fridge:
2 days
Freezing:
Yes
Store the broth with meatballs separately from the noodles in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat the soup gently until hot, then pour over freshly soaked noodles. Add fresh herbs and sprouts only when serving so they stay crisp.
Recipe submitted by
Marek, Site owner
Published:
Updated:
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