Culture In A Bowl 'm a freelance food and music writer from Philadelphia. The stories behind dishes are what fascinates me, with food being so deeply ingrained in cultural memory as it is for an individual who salivates down to the soul whenever they recall a dish their gr

Passport & Plate - Vietnamese Crab Soup

Vietnam | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 1 photos

Ingredients
Whole medium sized crabs
Rice Noodles
Lemon grass
Scallions
Garlic
Ginger
Onions
Tomatoes

 

How to prepare this recipe
Step 1: Sauté
To a large sauce pot, add a shallow coating of oil. Set burner to 75% capacity. Cut scallions from root end to where they get dark green.
Apply 1/2 cup scallions, including roots ends to the oil, as well as 1/4 cup minced onions, and 4 crushed and chopped cloves of garlic.
Cook until veg is translucent. Set aside some chopped scallions and quartered tomatoes for later. Turn heat down. Add 12 cups of water.

Step 2: Prepare the crabs.
Take fresh or thawed crabs and crush with a mortar and pestle, two at a time. As everything will be strained later, the more shards the better. The meat and shell is going to inform your broth. Place the pulp of five crabs into the pot. Take as much meat as you can from 4 other crabs and set aside in the fridge. Since these are medium sized crabs, don't bother trying to extract the meat front the legs--crush the smaller parts in the mortar and add to the pan. Take two more crabs, coat them in olive oil and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes. Once the crabs are done in the oven, set aside for later.

Step 3: Crush the lemon grass and ginger
Break off manageable ends of lemon grass and crush with ginger with your mortar and pestle. For this volume, use two sticks of lemon grass and 1/4 cup ginger. Add both to the pot.

Step 4: Flavor extraction
Bring the pot up to a boil and then let simmer for about 25 minutes.

Step 5: Strain everything.
Place a metal strainer or chinois over a second pot. Pour contents from the first pot into the second. You should have a clear broth, free of fatty solids.

Step 6: Add reserved crab meat, roasted crabs, quartered tomatoes, and reserved scallions. Cook for another 15 minutes.

Step 7: Cooking the rice noodles
Bring a pot water to boil. Throw in rice noodles. Cook only for three-four minutes, mixing and testing them. Do not overcook.

Step 8: Enjoy
Pour soup in bowl. Add rice noodles and some loose crab meat on top.Apply basil, cilantro,sprouts, chili oil.

 

The story behind this recipe
This is a common Vietnamese street food that is sold at curbside stalls in both the country and in big cities like Hanoi. I like it because, on one hand, it's so universal. It's a peasant, working man's food that's eaten in the morning prior to work by everyone from the farmer to factory workers and doctors. It comes from a mentality of not being able to waste anything. No part of the crab is wasted as every last ounce of flavor is extracted. And, this is done whether we're talking small river crabs in the country's interior, or bigger grabs in places closer to the shoreline. On the other hand, brightening elements from the Vietnamese pantry give the soup it's signature flavors.