Bun rieu! One of my favorite dishes! Bun rieu is a Vietnamese crab and tomato soup with noodles.
It’s a dish my mom told me isn’t available in Vietnamese restaurants because it’s such an easy dish to make at home. I’ve attempted multiple searches for this dish, in the Bay and in SoCal, where there is a huge Vietnamese population, whenever I crave it. It’s not an easy dish to find in restaurants. Even when I order it, I end up feeling disappointed because it doesn’t taste as good as my mom’s. Momma was right. She also told me that bun rieu is a homemade Northern Vietnamese dish, although she acknowledged that times have changed and it may be available in Vietnamese restaurants now.
When I was young, I used to think that the soup (or maybe it was the crab meat?) was spicy, so I called it “la la mein (辣辣麵/面),” which means “spicy noodles.” Not only did my immediate family used this nickname, but my cousins and relatives referred to this dish using my nickname as well. I think it was only in the last 5 years that we started calling it by the actual name instead of my childhood nickname.
Now, to making the dish.
First, add 7 cups of water to a big pot to make the soup. (My pot holds 3 quarts of water.) Then slice tomatoes, length-wise. Dice the onion. Add the sliced tomatoes and diced onions to the pot and wait for it to boil. An optional ingredient to add is 3/4 cup of dried shrimp. Once the pot boils (in about 15 minutes), turn it to low heat.
To make the shrimp and pork meatballs, put 3/4 pounds of ground pork on the cutting board to chop for about 5 minutes. According to my mom, this holds the meatballs together so they don’t break apart in the soup.
Put the grounded pork in a mixing bowl. Add 1 can of the bun rieu paste and 1 egg. Mix together.
Turn the broth back to high heat before you start adding the meatball mixture. Use a big spoon to make the meatball into a ball before gently sliding them into the soup. Try to be as gentle with this as you can. If you do it quickly (as I’ve done), the meatball falls apart. Let it boil for about half an hour and then lower to low heat. Once the meatballs float to the top, the soup is just about done.
Boil a second pot of water. This pot is used to make noodles.
Once the pot boils, sprinkle some salt (about 1/2 tsp) into the pot. Put the noodles in. Wait until it boils, which will take about 5 minutes. When there are a lot of bubbles rising to the top, turn off the stove. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. Check on it when you think it’s done to see if the noodle’s texture is to your liking. When ready, pour the contents into a colander. Add cold water over it and let it dry.
Add fish sauce, salt, chicken bouillon, and tamarind in the soup.
Once the soup tastes to your liking, prepare a bowl of noodles. Add some chopped lettuce or youchoi (optional) for some extra vegetables. Top the bowl with bun rieu broth and meatballs. Another option is to slice some cha lua (aka Vietnamese ham) to add as additional protein in the bowl. Add some chopped green onions as garnish.
Bun Rieu
Ingredients
Bun Rieu Broth
- 9 cups water
- 5 medium sized tomatoes, sliced length-wise
- 1 medium sized onion, sliced length-wise
- 3/4 cup dried shrimp (optional)
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
- 2 Tbsp tamarind
Shrimp and Pork Meatballs
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1 5.6 oz can of minced prawns in spices
Noodles
- salt
- 1/2 28 oz bag of rice vermicelli
Toppings
- 1 green onions, chopped for garnishes
- lettuce or youchoi (optional)
- slices of cha lua/Vietnamese ham (optional)
Instructions
- Boil 9 cups of water in a big pot to make the soup
- While waiting for the pot of water to boil, slice the tomatoes and the onion to put into the pot. Once the pot of water boils, add both to the pot.
- To enhance the flavor of the soup, measure 3/4 cup of dried shrimp and rinse it under cold water for a few seconds before adding it to the pot. The water in the pot takes about 15 minutes to boil. Once the water boils, turn it to low heat.
- Now, put the 3/4 pound of ground pork on the cutting board and chop it for about 5 minutes. The chopping helps hold the meatball together better.
- Put the ground pork into a mixing bowl. Crack the egg into the mixing bowl. Then use a can opener to open the can of minced shrimp in spices and scoop the minced shrimp into the mixing bowl. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Turn the pot of soup from low heat back to high heat. Using a spoon, scoop enough of the meatball gently to slide the meatball into the soup. Once all the meatballs have been added to the broth, let it boil for about half an hour and then lower to low heat. Once the meatballs float to the top of the broth, the broth is ready for the flavoring to be added.
- While waiting for the meatballs to float to the top of the broth, boil a second pot of water. This pot will be used to cook the noodles. Sprinkle some salt into the pot. Once the water boils, put the noodles in. Wait until the noodles boil (5 minutes). When there are a lot of bubbles rising to the top, turn off the stove. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Check on it to see if the noodles are to your liking. When ready, pour the noodles out into a colander. Rinse the noodles with cold water and let it cool.
- Add the fish sauce, chicken bouillon, salt, and tamarind to the soup. Wait for the soup to boil and then turn it to low heat for half an hour.
- While waiting for the flavor to be enhanced in the soup, chop some lettuce or youchoi and green onions. If you choose to eat youchoi, you will need to bowl a pot of water first to cook the vegetables before adding it to your bun rieu. You may also slice cha lua to include in the bun rieu as well.
- Now you are ready to prepare your bowl of goodness! Add the vegetable of choice to the bowl. Then add the noodles and soup. Add the noodles, cha lua (optional) and soup. Include the chopped green onions as garnish, if you like green onions. Enjoy!