''Bún riêu'' is a traditional

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

of clear stock and

rice vermicelli Rice vermicelli is a thin form of noodle. It is sometimes referred to as 'rice noodles' or 'rice sticks', but should not be confused with cellophane noodles, a different Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch or rice starch rather ...

. There are several varieties of ''bún riêu'', including ''bún riêu cua'' (minced crab), ''bún riêu cá'' (fish) and ''bún riêu ốc'' (snail). Vietweek May 18th 2012 print editio
The market beyond the hedge
"Not surprisingly, seasoned shoppers at Phung Hung delight in the fermented fiat of a soup so pungent, it makes bún riêu seem like a Cup-o-Noodles.

Bún mắm ''Bún mắm'' is a fermented thick Vietnamese vermicelli soup sometimes called "Vietnamese gumbo." Etymology Food reviewer Mike Sula explains, "''Bun'' refers to the steamed rice vermicelli, which can be a bit mushy. But the key to this soup ...

allegedly came from the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, where Khmer, Chinese and Vietnamese communities have intermingled for centuries." ''Bún riêu cua'' is served with

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

broth and topped with minced

freshwater crab Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which relea ...

. In this dish, various freshwater paddy crabs are used, including the brown paddy crab found in

rice paddies A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aust ...

in Vietnam. The crabs are cleaned to remove dirt and sand. Then crabs are pounded together with the shell on into a fine paste. This paste is strained and the crab liquid is a base for the soup along with tomato. The crab residue is used as the basis for

crab cakes A crab cake is a variety of fishcake that is popular in the United States. It is composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, mayonnaise, mustard (typically prepared mustard, but sometimes mustard powder), eggs, and ...

. Other ingredients for this dish include

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs ...

paste, fried

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super firm ...

, '' mẻ'' or giấm bỗng (kinds of

rice vinegar Rice vinegar is a vinegar made from fermented rice in East Asia (China, Japan and Korea), as well as in Vietnam in Southeast Asia. It is used as a seasoning, dressing, and dipping in many dishes, including sushi, jiaozi, and banchans. Some of its ...

), ''

Garcinia multiflora ''Garcinia multiflora'' is a tree species in the family Clusiaceae. No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life. It is called ''dọc'' in Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Sou ...

'' Champ.,

annatto Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (''Bixa orellana''), native to tropical America. It is often used to impart a yellow or orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its flav ...

seeds (''hạt điều màu'') to redden the broth, ''huyết'' (congealed pig's blood), split

water spinach ''Ipomoea aquatica'', widely known as water spinach, is a semi- aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. ''I. aquatica'' is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivate ...

stems, shredded

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

flower, ''rau kinh giới'' (''

Elsholtzia ciliata ''Elsholtzia ciliata'', commonly known as Vietnamese balm, xiang ru (香薷) or ''kinh giới'' in Vietnamese, is a plant native to Asia. In the US, it can go by the name Crested Late Summer Mint. In US Vietnamese grocery stores, it is called Kin ...

''),

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

perilla ''Perilla'' is a genus consisting of one major Asiatic crop species ''Perilla frutescens'' and a few wild species in nature belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus encompasses several distinct varieties of Asian herb, seed, and vegeta ...

bean sprouts Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth. In the field of nutrition, the term signifies ...

and ''

chả chay ''Chả'' is Vietnamese for "sausage", referring to the Vietnamese types of sausage. Other types of sausage have different names: ''xúc xích'' refers to the pork-based Western "hot dog", and " lạp xưởng" refers to Chinese sausages, sweeter ...

'' (vegetarian sausage). This dish is rich in nutrition:

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

from the ground crab shells, iron from the congealed pig's blood, and vitamins and fiber from the vegetables. "Bún riêu" has a fresh sour flavor, so Vietnamese like to enjoy it in summer. There are many restaurants in Vietnam that sell this dish.

Ingredients

* Paddy crabs (crab meat and crab roe) *

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

Egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

* Souring agents like ''garcinia multiflora'' (quả dọc), dracontomelon (quả sấu),

(quả me),

starfruit Carambola, also known as star fruit, is the fruit of '' Averrhoa carambola'', a species of tree native to tropical Southeast Asia. The mildly poisonous fruit is commonly consumed in parts of Brazil, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the South Pacif ...

(quả khế),

(mẻ or giấm bỗng) *

Onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

* Fried

* Accompanying greens: sliced banana flowers (hoa chuối thái nhỏ), rau muống *Herbs:

(tía tô), Vietnamese balm (kinh giới)

References

External links

Kỳ lạ... bún riêu cua
LANHUONG, Băng Sơn

Hà Nội Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

mới 11:16 15/10/2007 Vietnamese soups Crab dishes Seafood dishes Vietnamese words and phrases Noodle soups Vietnamese noodle dishes {{vietnam-cuisine-stub

Ingredients

See also

References

External links