what will you need
tomatoes — Use very ripe tomatoes to get a richer red color for the broth.
Knuckles of pork/pig’s feet — This is used to make the broth richer and add extra protein to the dish. Pork knuckles can have a lingering foul barn odor if not cleaned properly. It is best to blanch them in flavored water before using them in a recipe.
Ginger, garlic, shallots — These are the flavorings we will use.
Fermented Shrimp Paste (Mắm Ruốc) — This is the main umami salty flavoring. Look for a glass that says Mắm Ruốc instead of Mắm Tôm. However, if you cannot find Mắm Ruốc, Mắm Tôm will do.
Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Sugar, MSG — These are other spices that we will use to turn the broth into a wonderful broth. MSG is optional so just leave it out if you don’t use MSG and we’ll leave it at that.
fried tofu — You can find fried tofu in either the refrigerated or frozen sections of Asian grocery stores. If you can’t find fried tofu, you can fry your own with firm tofu. Drain and dry them thoroughly. Cut them into small blocks and then fry them in neutral oil in a pan until golden brown on all sides.
Large prawns/head prawns — We will use both the head and the body of the shrimp. The head fat (that orange gooey stuff) gives the broth a nice red color. The rest of the shrimp is used in the meatballs (riêu).
crab meat — I use Costco’s fresh crab meat, which usually comes in a small tub. It also costs an arm and a leg, so be mentally prepared for that. Luckily for this recipe I only need a third of it so I can save the rest for another dish.
eggs — Our binder for meatballs. Disclaimer: We don’t actually make balls. We simply make a large sheet of crab and shrimp that we break into “meatballs” when ready to serve.
Boiled pork blood — This is optional, but I love pork blood or blood cake with my bún riêu. This must also be prepared separately from the broth. I will soon have a specific recipe post on how to cook pig blood and make blood cakes.
toppings — You can’t have a nice bowl without side dishes. You can use a combination of thinly sliced scallions, cilantro, and/or yellow onions to garnish the pasta for a nice finish. Fresh limes or lemon wedges are served with it.
water spinach — Also known as Rau Muống in Vietnamese and Ong Choy in Cantonese. The tubular stalk is the prized part of water spinach and a must-have vegetable to eat with bún riêu. It’s usually shredded into thin strips with this cool gadget. Water spinach can become expensive or unavailable during the colder months. If that’s the case, just use finely grated white/purple cabbage instead.
Other Vietnamese herbs — A collection of herbs is known Rau Thom in Vietnamese. For Bún Riêu, you can use the following herbs: perilla (tía tô), spearmint (húng lũi), Vietnamese lemon balm (kinh giới), fishmint (diếp cá) and sorrel (rau chua).
rice noodles — My favorite rice noodles are made by the same brand as my favorite rice, which is either Three Ladies, Buddha, or Dragon Fly. Look for medium-sized rice noodles, which are often unlabeled. So look for those are not labeled thin/thick or thick. The noodles without a label are usually your medium-sized noodles.