There are many versions of this Vietnamese soup but the basic foundations for the broth remain the same – you have sour, sweet and salty elements.  A relatively easy and fast soup to make for evening meals or for when friends or family are coming over and you just want a one pot wonder to serve up.

What is needed:

2 litres chicken or pork stock
100g pork mince
250g tin crab meat in spices
80g dried shrimps, soaked in 500ml of water for at least an hour
1 tbsp fish sauce
4 eggs
2 Tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
½  packet of lightly fried fresh bean curd (tofu puffs)
2 tbsp tomato paste
Oil
2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 Lemon
1 Tbsp palm sugar

Shrimp paste – optional
250g pack Vermicelli rice noodles – cooked and set aside

3 stalks of spring onions and small bunch coriander finely chopped

For garnish: lettuce finely sliced, bean shoots, perilla leaves, mint leaves,

What to do:

Place the pork mince, crab meat, eggs, black pepper and fish sauce into a large bowl and mix well.

In a large saucepan, fry off the tomato paste in a about a tablespoon of oil being careful not to burn it, then pour the chicken stock and shrimps soaking in water, include the water it has been soaking in, and bring to the boil. Add palm sugar and tamarind concentrate to the broth. One spoonful at a time, scoop the egg mixture into the stock. When the meat rises to the surface of the stock, add the tomatoes and sliced bean curd, continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Taste and adjust saltiness to your liking by adding fish sauce or shrimp paste if you have some.

To serve:
Pour the soup over the noodles in individual serving bowls. Add the chopped spring onions, coriander, juice of a lemon wedge, lettuce and any additional fresh herbs for garnish.

Makes 4 serves

Adapted from My Family Feast by Sean Connolly

This post is part of the CookBook Challenge : Rice/Noodles theme

Go to link below for other entries:

http://myfoodtrail.blogspot.com