Crab and Tomato Rice Noodle Soup with Herbs

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A bright, tangy Vietnamese noodle soup built on a tomato-tamarind broth, crowned with fluffy orange rafts of crab and pork bound with egg. Canned crab paste in soybean oil does the heavy lifting that street vendors get from hand-pounded paddy crabs, so the whole thing comes together in about an hour on a weeknight. Serve it screaming hot with a mountain of herbs, bean sprouts and lime.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb pork spare ribs or neck bones
• 10 cups water
• 1 yellow onion, halved
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp annatto seeds (or 1 tsp paprika)
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 lb ripe Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate (or 2 tbsp tamarind pulp soaked in 1/4 cup hot water and strained)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (mam tom), optional

• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 3 tbsp canned crab paste in soybean oil (gach cua)
• 6 oz canned lump crab meat, drained
• 3 large eggs
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked and finely chopped, optional

• 14 oz dried thin rice vermicelli (bun)
• 6 oz fried tofu puffs, halved, optional
• 3 cups bean sprouts
• 2 cups shredded green cabbage or banana blossom
• 1 cup perilla leaves (tia to)
• 1 cup Vietnamese balm, cilantro and/or Thai basil
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• 2 Thai chiles, sliced
• 3 tbsp fried shallots

Instructions

1. Rinse the pork ribs, put them in a large pot with cold water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil hard for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse the ribs and the pot to remove the scum. Return the ribs to the pot with 10 cups fresh water and the halved onion, bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, skimming any foam. Remove the onion.
2. While the broth simmers, make the annatto oil: heat the 2 tbsp neutral oil with the annatto seeds in a small skillet over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the oil turns deep orange. Strain out and discard the seeds (if using paprika, stir it into the warm oil off the heat).
3. Return the strained oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook 3 to 4 minutes until golden, then add the minced garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the tomato wedges, season with 1/2 tsp of the salt, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes slump and release their juices but still hold some shape.
4. Scrape the tomato mixture into the simmering broth. Stir in the tamarind concentrate, fish sauce, sugar, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and the shrimp paste if using. Simmer 10 minutes, then taste: it should be assertively sour-savoury with a sweet edge. Adjust with more fish sauce, sugar or tamarind. Keep the broth at 185 to 190°F — barely trembling, not bubbling.
5. Make the rieu mixture: in a bowl, combine the ground pork, crab paste in soybean oil, crab meat, eggs, minced shallot, garlic, 1 tbsp fish sauce, black pepper and the wood ear mushrooms if using. Stir vigorously with a fork for 1 minute until it looks light, loose and uniformly orange — it should pour thickly from a spoon.
6. Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the rieu mixture and stir to loosen it, then pour the whole mixture back into the pot in a slow, steady stream over the surface. Do not stir. Let it sit undisturbed at 185°F for 6 to 8 minutes; the mixture will set into soft orange curds and float to the top as one loose raft.
7. Using a slotted spoon, gently lift the rieu curds into a bowl and set aside. If using tofu puffs, drop them into the broth now and simmer 5 minutes to soak up the tomato flavour. Fish out the pork ribs; pull off the meat in chunks if you like and return it to the pot, or serve the ribs whole in the bowls.
8. Cook the rice vermicelli in a separate large pot of boiling unsalted water according to the package, usually 4 to 6 minutes, until tender with no chalky core. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, then shake dry.
9. Divide the noodles among four large bowls. Bring the broth back to a full boil for 30 seconds, then ladle it over the noodles, spooning tomatoes and tofu into each bowl. Top each with a generous mound of the reserved rieu curds, scallions and fried shallots.
10. Serve immediately with a shared platter of bean sprouts, shredded cabbage or banana blossom, perilla, herbs, lime wedges and sliced chiles so everyone can pile on and squeeze lime to taste.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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