Bun Rieu Cua (Crab)

BUN RIEU CUA (Crab)

INGREDIENTS:

1 gallon of pork or chicken stock ( I usually use the baby pork ribs so that I can have some meat in there besides the rieu and tofu)
1 can of 14 oz of crab or shrimp paste in spices ( we like Lee Brand)
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup of crab meat, either fresh or canned/frozen drained
1 lb of ground pork
1 Tablespoon of fish sauce
1 Tablespoon of sugar
1 large onion–I used a whole one and just throw in the broth (washed and peeled)

1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 Tablespoon of of fine shrimp paste..man thom…very salty so be careful
1 Tablespoon tomato paste…if you want the red color …

1/4 Cup of dried shrimp (soaked in warm water)—optional
8 cloves minced garlic

4 large ripe tomatoes (quartered)
10 medium sized fried tofu (halved)
1 bunch of green onion–chopped

1 bunch of cilantro…or other asian herbs…I also used mint..and lettuce, bean sprout, rau muong

1 packet of vermicelli noodles (cook according to package instruction)

Cook the vermicelli noodles and set aside.

At the same time add pork or chicken stock into large pot and bring to boil.

***I used a food processor to make my crab mixture

In the meantime, make the crab mixture. Combine ground pork, crab, can of crab meat in spices, shallots, fine shrimp paste, fish sauce, dice garlic, pepper, and sugar. Add the beaten eggs and mix well. I actually put it all in a food processor and pulse it a few times …so it can mix and chopped up.

When the stock comes to a boil, slowly add this crab mixture into stock. Now, add the quartered TOMATOES and tofu and bring to boil again. Finally, give it a taste and season the stock with additional salt or fish sauce according to your preference. Mix in tomato paste if you want more of the red color

Lastly, add vermicelli noodles to bowl and ladle the bun rieu over the noodles.

Garnish with sliced green onion and chopped cilantro…bean sprout..lettuce, mint, and rau muong.