Back
Banh Canh Cua
Recipe by Tommy Pham
Recreate this Banh Canh Cua (Vietnamese crab noodle soup) on your next chilly night in
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Annatto and Garlic Oil
Crab and Pork Broth
Thick Tapioca Noodles (banh canh)
Annatto and Garlic Crab
To serve
Select All
Steps
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.
- For the Annatto and Garlic Oil, place oil, garlic and salt into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the garlic is golden. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, reserving both oil and garlic separately. When ready to serve, combine 1 tablespoon of each in a small bowl and set aside.
- For the Crab Broth, add the crab to the boiling water and boil for 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of iced water to cool. Remove and discard the deadman’s fingers, pick the crab meat and set aside. Chop the crab shells. Place daikon, onion, spring onion, cuttlefish, dried shrimp, dried scallop, pork mince and egg whites into a large metal bowl and mix until roughly combined. Transfer to the bowl of a pressure cooker.
- Add chopped crab shells and pork ribs with enough water to cover. Seal the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Strain broth through a muslin lined sieve into a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Mix potato starch and water in a small bowl. Slowly pour into broth whisking continuously, until broth just thickens.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons annatto and garlic oil (or to taste) to the broth while whisking vigorously. Add fish sauce, sugar and salt, to taste. Cover and keep warm.
- For the Noodles, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add 1 teaspoon oil.
- Place rice flour and boiling water into the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and mix for approximately 4 minutes on high.
- Reduce speed to medium and add remaining ingredients. Mix until roughly combined.
- Increase speed to high and slowly add hot water one teaspoon at a time, until the dough is thick enough to stick to the inside of the bowl. Transfer to a potato ricer.
- Using a constant steady pressure into noodles directly into boiling water using a constant pressure. Cut with a sharp knife to release noodles from the ricer.
- Boil for approximately 6 minutes until the noodles are al dente. Drain noodles through a strainer and rinse with cold water. Drizzle with oil and gently toss noodles through to coat.
- For the Annatto and Garlic Crab, place the oil into a pan on high heat, heat the oil until just starting to smoke. Add crab meat, salt and sugar and fry for approximately 12 seconds on each side.
- Transfer crab meat to a cold bowl and squeeze some lime juice over the crab. Set aside.
- To serve, place a serving of the noodles into each bowl and top with crab meat. Sprinkle with spring onion, coriander and chilli. Pour hot broth into the bowl and finish off with crispy garlic oil, crispy garlic and annatto oil, to taste.
