Dinner · 70 min · vietnamese

Bun Rieu Cua

Crab meat does the heavy lifting here, with ground pork rounding it out. A Vietnamese dinner that takes 70 minutes, start to finish. Each serving lands at 455 calories with 41g of protein, so it eats like a much heavier meal. It scales cleanly if you are cooking for more than one.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1 lb Crab meat
• 8 oz Ground pork
• 3 Eggs
• 4 Tomatoes
• 8 oz Fried tofu puffs
• 2 tbsp Tamarind pulp
• 2 tbsp Annatto oil
• 3 Shallots
• 1/4 cup Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp Shrimp paste
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1 lb Thin rice vermicelli
• 2 bunches Water spinach
• 2 cups Cabbage
• 1 cup Fresh herbs
• 1 Lime

Steps

1. Mix the crab meat with ground pork, beaten eggs, and a spoonful of fish sauce. Steam in a shallow dish for 15 minutes until set, then slice into squares and pan-sear until golden on both sides. Two textures from one mixture, and both are worth it.
2. Soften the tamarind in hot water and press through a sieve for a smooth sour puree.
3. Fry the shallots and shrimp paste in annatto oil until brick red and intensely fragrant, then add quartered tomatoes and cook until they slump.
4. Add 10 cups of water, the tamarind, fish sauce, and sugar. Simmer 20 minutes, then balance the broth until sour leads, savory follows, and sweet rounds it out.
5. Add the tofu puffs for the last 10 minutes so they drink up the broth.
6. Blanch the water spinach, cook the vermicelli, and divide among deep bowls with shredded cabbage.
7. Ladle over the broth, top with the seared crab cakes, and finish with herbs and lime. The broth should taste like summer at the coast.

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