Many times I have uttered the words, ‘this is my mom’s specialty’ for many Vietnamese dishes, but I am pretty sure that this is her number one. I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of this dish growing up (I prefer poultry, pork, or beef based Vietnamese dishes mostly), but after being away from my family/hometown, and coming back home every once in awhile, I totally get this dish, and I absolutely love it. Last week I called my mom for the recipe, and was surprised at how easy it is to make, which makes it the perfect recipe to share. For the broth base, my mom uses chicken broth, and as always, I prefer to make homemade chicken stock (I will post a simple recipe for this in the near future). I just like the flavor of my own homemade stock, but also the clarity, as I find store bought chicken broth to be on the cloudy side. I tend to make the broth the day before, and will store it in the fridge cut cut down preparation time on the day of. At home, my parents usually make this soup after eating steamed blue crabs. They save the uneaten crab meat, crab juices, and crab eggs, and they use it to make a super flavorful crab base for the soup (totally an option for you to try, and highly recommended). Unfortunately, I don’t really have access to really good blue crabs up here, so I used jars of jumbo lump crab meat in the refrigerated seafood section at my local grocery store, which make a great substitute (you can also get fresh lump crab from your local fish market). Annatto oil gives the soup a nice coloring, and directions are provided below on how to make it (it’s so easy!). I also prefer to make the annatto oil the day before (if I don’t already have it on hand), and store it in a jar. The key to this soup being so comforting (especially for a cold and/or rainy day) is its thickness from the cornstarch, but also from the chewy tapioca noodles. Make sure to place the noodles in the soup 10-15 minutes before serving (the noodles will continue to expand and soften after, so time it perfectly if you want the right texture). Freshly ground pepper, chopped scallions, chopped cilantro, and crispy fried onions bring the soup flavor up a notch, and a squeeze of lime takes you to culinary nirvana.
VIETNAMESE CRAB/SEAFOOD SOUP W/TAPIOCA NOODLES (BÁNH CANH CUA)
Degree of difficulty: 2.5 (on a scale of 1-5)
Cooking time: Approximately 50 minutes
YOU’LL NEED
A medium frying pan
A large stockpot
INGREDIENTS (for approx. 12 cups of chicken broth) Serves 4-6 people
1 X 8oz jar/container of fresh jumbo lump crab (or if preferred, freshly peeled crab)
12 cups of chicken stock (I recommend making your own chicken stock for the best flavor profile)
2 TBS cooking oil
5 finely chopped garlic cloves
3 TBS finely chopped shallots
5 TBS cornstarch powder, whisked well in 1 cup of cold water
3 TSP salt
1 TSP ground white pepper
4 TBS fish sauce
2 TSP sugar
6 TSP annatto oil
bánh canh noodles/thick tapioca noodles (2 X 15oz packages)
chopped cilantro (garnish)
chopped scallion (garnish)
crispy fried shallots (garnish)
sautéed shrimp and crab as a garnish (optional)
lime wedges
DIRECTIONS FOR ANNATTO OIL
Heat up ½ a cup of neutral cooking oil on medium-high
Stir in 2 TBS of annatto seeds
Continually stir until the oil begins to color. The oil is done once the first annatto seed starts to pop. Once you hear that first pop, remove from heat, strain, and allow the oil to cool. Store in a jar (annatto oil can be used for various Vietnamese dishes/soups)
DIRECTIONS FOR CRAB/SEAFOOD SOUP/BÁNH CANH
Using 2 TBS of cooking oil, sauté garlic and shallots in a frying pan on medium heat until fragrant. Once the shallots and garlic have slightly softened, increase to medium high, and add in your crab (among other seafood you would like to include, like shrimp, scallop, lobster, etc), and sauté with the garlic and shallots. If you are adding in more seafood, you may want to increase the oil and amount of garlic/shallots. Sautee for 3-5 min, and remove from the pan and set aside.
Bring a large stockpot of chicken stock to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Add your seasoning (fish sauce, salt, sugar, ground white pepper, and annatto oil). Taste and add more salt/fish sauce/seasoning only if needed.
Very slowly add the cup of cornstarch water to thicken the broth, then use a ladle to continuously stir the cornstarch into the stock.
Add in your sautéed crab/seafood and garlic/shallot mix and stir well. Cook the soup for 20 min on medium heat, allowing the garlic, shallots, and crab to fully flavor the broth.
After 20 minutes have passed, taste the soup and additional seasonings (salt, fish sauce) if needed. 10-15 min before serving, add in your banh canh noodles (you don’t want it to over soften, so add the noodles in just before you’re about ready to eat)
Optional: Top with a medley of stir fried seafood (shrimp, crab/crab legs) for presentation
Garnish with chopped cilantro, scallion, and crispy fried shallots. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime and freshly ground pepper.