Bún Riêu: Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup - Bun Bo Bae

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Many Vietnamese noodle soups involve simmering bones for long hours to extract all the flavor from the meat, which discourages new cooks from trying recipes. Luckily, Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup bún riêu comes together in a snap, and can be made in no time at all compared to other dishes!

Pin Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup (Bún Riêu) to try later!

Spare ribs and dried shrimp are used to flavor the broth instead of large bones, and tomatoes bring a fresh acidity to the hearty dish.

Jump to:

• 🦀 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 💭 Substitutions
• 🍳 Equipment
• 🍜 Serving Suggestions
• 🥡 How to store or make in advance
• 👪 Serving Size
• Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup (Bún Riêu)
• 🦺 Food safety

🦀 Ingredients

You will need:

• pork spare ribs
• dried shrimp
• water
• tomatoes
• fried tofu
• shallot
• minced prawns in spices
• canned or fresh crab meat
• ground pork
• egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• bun riêu bouillon
• vermicelli noodles
• Scallion and cilantro for garnish

See recipe card for quantities.

🔪 Instructions

Parboil your spare ribs by throwing them in a pot of salted water and bringing them to a boil for about a minute.

Drain and rinse the ribs after they've been boiled briefly.

After the parboil, add your ribs back to your pot with 5-6 cups of water and the dried shrimp. Bring the water to a boil and keep at a simmer for 30 minutes before removing your shrimp.

Process the simmered shrimp in a food processor and mix it in with minced shallots, the minced prawn in spices, crab meat, ground pork and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the tomatoes into wedges and slice the tofu into slices or wedges.

Add the bun rieu bouillon, fried tofu and tomato wedges to the pork rib broth.

Spoon the crab mixture onto the hot broth. Be gentle so the mixture doesn't fall apart. Simmer the broth until the mixture cooks through.

Serve with rice vermicelli and cilantro and green onion (scallions) for garnish.

Tips:

• The "riêu" in bun riêu refers to the crab mixture in the dish. My family prefers the crab mixture to be very delicate, but you will see some recipes where it is more like a firm meatball. If you want a firmer riêu, use more ground pork than I use in this recipe.
• The minced prawn in spices gives the riêu body, and it flavours and colours the broth. Do not substitute or omit this. You can find it at an Asian grocery store or online. Look up "minced prawn in spices bun rieu seasoning" to find it.
• Once you add the riêu, this dish shouldn't ever be heated back up to a rolling boil. It will break up the riêu into little pieces.
• My mom always adds two birds eye chilis to the broth. If you want it more spicy, you can chop up the chilis or serve the noodles with a side of sambal.

💭 Substitutions

• Dried shrimp will give your broth a depth and body that spare ribs won't on their own. You can find them at an Asian grocery store or online, but you can also replace them with shrimp shells if you need to.
• I use fresh canned crab meat. Shelf stable canned crab or frozen crab can also be used. You can even use fresh steamed crab meat if you want to get fancy!
• I've provided an image of my favourite brand of bouillon for this soup. It can be found online or at an asian grocery store. Look up "Bao Long bun rieu bouillon" to find it. Another brand you can look up is "Quoc Viet Cot Bun Rieu," which comes in a powder rather than in cubes.
• I used both fried tofu pouches and regular fried tofu in this dish. You can use one or the other, fry your own tofu or use regular extra firm tofu slices if you can't find fried tofu.

🍳 Equipment

You'll need a stockpot or a heavy bottomed pot like a dutch oven to make this dish.

🍜 Serving Suggestions

Serve the broth over medium sized rice vermicelli noodles. The riêu is delicate, so spoon it on top of your cooked noodles and arrange the ribs, tomatoes and tofu over the noodles before spooning the broth over everything. Garnish with scallions and cilantro. You an add extra spice with sambal or sliced birds eye chilis.

🥡 How to store or make in advance

You can make this entire dish the day before. It'll taste even better reheated the next day. Make sure not to heat it to a rolling boil, or else the riêu will fall apart.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe should make 6-8 bowls of noodles depending on how big your appetite is!

Print Pin 4.84 from 6 votes

Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup (Bún Riêu)

This rice noodle soup with crab is light and perfect for spring. Course Main Course, Soups Cuisine Asian, Vietnamese Keyword crab, Noodles, Pork, soup Prep Time 30 minutes minutes Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes Total Time 2 hours hours Servings 6 bowls Calories 505kcal

Ingredients

• 1 package medium sized vermicelli noodles
• 1 lb pork spare ribs
• 12 dried shrimp
• 6 cups water
• 4 cubes bún riêu bouillon
• 1 shallot
• 14 oz crab meat
• 14 oz canned minced prawns in spices
• ½ lb ground pork
• 1 egg
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced into 6-8 wedges each
• 1 package fried tofu, sliced or cut into wedges sliced
• Scallion and cilantro for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook noodles according to package and set aside
• Cut spare ribs between bones and add to a pot of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
• Drain and rinse ribs and add back into pot with 6 clean cups of water. Add more water if needed to cover the ribs. Add dried shrimp and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Take shrimp out and add bouillon to the remaining broth and ribs. Continue simmering while you prepare the riêu.
• Add the dried shrimp and shallot to a food processor and blend until shrimp is finely shredded.
• Mix shrimp/shallot mixture, crab, pork, minced prawn, egg, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
• Add sliced tomatoes and tofu and turn up the heat until the broth boils again.
• Reduce the heat back to a simmer and carefully spoon rieu mixture into the broth. It should float on top of the tofu and tomatoes.
• Simmer the broth for another 15-30 minutes until rieu is cooked through. and you don't see any more pink pork.
• Serve over vermicelli noodles with chopped scallion and cilantro for garnish.

Notes

Calorie counts are an estimate only.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 505kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 272mg | Sodium: 986mg | Potassium: 725mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 400IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 197mg | Iron: 3mg Nutrition Facts Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup (Bún Riêu) Amount Per Serving (1 bowl) Calories 505 Calories from Fat 270 % Daily Value* Fat 30g46%Saturated Fat 9g56%Trans Fat 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat 6gMonounsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 272mg91%Sodium 986mg43%Potassium 725mg21%Carbohydrates 4g1%Fiber 1g4%Sugar 2g2%Protein 52g104% Vitamin A 400IU8%Vitamin C 11mg13%Calcium 197mg20%Iron 3mg17% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Calorie counts and nutrition facts are an estimate only.

🦺 Food safety

Whenever cooking meat, follow these best practices:

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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