Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Vietnamese Thick Crab Noodle Soup (Bánh Canh Ghẹ)


Ingredients
  • 500 g crab/snow crab legs
  • 500 g crab chunks
  • 200 g prawns, deveined
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • A bunch of spring onions and coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 or 2 packages of Vietnamese Tapioca noodles (or Japanese Udon Noodles)
  • 2 liters of chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup of corn starch
  • 2 tbsp paprika 
  • Fish sauce and sugar
  • 1/4 cup chopped spring onion
  • Fresh herbs (coriander leaves, Vietnamese mints...)

Method
- Season the crab meat, crab chunks and prawns with salt, pepper, fish sauce. Set aside for 15 minutes
- In a large pot over medium high heat, add some cooking oil and saute the minced garlic until fragrant. Add the marinated crab meat and prawns, stir-fry until cooked. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Add some more oil in the same pot and stir-fry the crab chunks until cooked.
- Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Season to your taste with seasoning powder, sugar, salt and fish sauce. Dissolve the cornstarch with cold water then add into the broth to thicken it a bit. You can either add the cooked noodle directly into the saucepan or boil and drain it separately.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a small pan, add the paprika, keep stirring for about a minute, then quickly pour the mixture into the pot. This step gives the broth a vibrant red color.
- Ladle to a serving bowl. Top up with stir-fried crab meat, prawn. Garnish with some chopped spring onion and Vietnamese mint. Serve hot. 

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