Bun Rieu

This is my version of Bun Rieu, it might not be authentic Vietnamese but it did taste fantastic. This soup is Alexander's favorite and he called it = The Red Soup. I learned this recipe from my friend, Lan who has opened my door to Vietnamese Cuisine.

Ingredients:

One 14 oz can of crab meat paste in spices
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup of crab meat or chopped shrimp
1 lb of ground pork
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp of ground pepper

1 yellow/white onion -chopped

4 ripe tomatoes - diced

3 liters pork/chicken stock

1 box 14 oz firm tofu - cut into bite sizes and shallow fried until crispy

1 tbsp tomato paste/puree
1 tbsp fine shrimp paste

1 packet of vermicelli noodles

Method:

Cook the vermicelli noodles according to manufacturer's instructions and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp cooking oil in a large pot and add in the diced onions. Sweat the onions and add in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste/puree. Saute until fragrant, add in pork/chicken stock, fried tofu and bring to boil.

Combine ground pork, crab/chopped shrimp, can of crab meat in spices,fine shrimp paste, fish sauce,pepper, and sugar. Add the beaten eggs and mix well.

When the stock comes to a boil, slowly add this crab mixture into stock in spoonfuls, do not disturb the soup and let the stock cme back to the boil and continue to simmer - pork/crab/shrimp balls will float when they are cooked through.

Adjust stock with salt or fish sauce.

Serve this soup with cooked vermicilli noodles and fresh garnishes.