Vietnamese Seafood & Pork Clear Vermicelli Noodle Soup
Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang is another one of those noodle soups you can find at a street market. It is a classic Southern Vietnamese dish with a pork broth flavored by dried shrimp and/or squid. It's the purest form of soup due to its simple and clear pork bone broth. Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang's origin is quite interesting. It is a product of three cultures! Originally a Cambodian dish that was brought into Vietnam by Chinese vendors as they travel the world!
Hủ Tiếu itself is very flexible in terms of ingredients used. And there's an array of varieties from dry to wet versions. Bowls of chewy noodles can be topped simply with ground pork and fish balls or with sliced pork, shrimp, fish cakes (substituting for fish balls), and quail eggs or with pork inners. Then topped with sliced scallions and crispy shallots served with a side of chili, lime/lemon, bean sprouts, and chrysanthemum greens.
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For the past two Christmas gatherings, I have been making Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang for my family members. For my pork broth, I use pork bones, pork ribs, pork butt roast, and or a nice belly section of a deli crispy roasted pork! The pork product produces a beautiful silky broth with lots of collagen! The pork broth is rich and savory in flavor. And when I can't get my hands on some crispy roasted pork belly from the deli, I add a teaspoon of five spice to emulate the crispy roast pork flavor. It's like eating a bowl of crackling crispy roasted pork essence!
For the noodles, I love glass noodles made of tapioca or potato starch! They are chewy and is complimentary to the pork broth to produce an overall clean flavor and taste. But you can use pretty much any type of noodles that you desire. Egg noodles, rice noodles, and tapioca noodles of all types are acceptable. You can eat this dish wet with lots of broth or dry with the broth on the side. It is purely up to you and what your preference is. It's all about pleasing your personal palate!
{Ingredients}
{Broth}
4-5 lbs pork ribs/bones/butt/combination
6 quarts water, plus more
1 yellow onion roasted
1 3-inch ginger halved and roasted
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp dried shrimp
1 palm sugar stick
2 tbsp salt (plus more to taste)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp five-spice powder
1/2 cup chicken/mushroom bouillon
{Other Proteins}
1lb Shrimp
2 cans quail eggs
1 lb fish cake sliced/fish balls)
1 lb ground pork (optional)
1 lb calamari (optional)
Pork inners (optional)
{Sides & Garnishes}
scallions/spring Onions
cilantro
Thai chili
lime/lemon
fried shallots
bean sprouts
chrysanthemum greens
{Noodles: Any type you want!}
tapioca noodles
potato starch noodles
thin rice noodles
thin egg noodles
{Method}
Method
Making The Broth
Begin boiling water in a stockpot for a pre-boil rinse of pork bones and pork butt. Add pork bones and butt and 2 teaspoons salt to a pot of water. This is the initial boil to clean the bones and meat. Any blood or debris will wash off and leave the actual broth nice and clear. Boil for 10 to 15-minutes. Drain and rinse the meat well under warm water.
Roast the ginger and onion under a broiler/airfryer and or gas top range.
Boil a kettle or two of water. Or in a 6-8 quart pot.
Add 4 tablespoons of olive/veggie oil into the pressure cooker and set on sauté mode.
Add garlic and dried shrimp to the oil. Mix well. Keep mixing and stirring the aromatics to prevent the burning. This heating process brings out the natural flavors and oils from the seasoning to give a deeper depth of flavor.
Slowly add a small amount of boiling hot water to the instant pot. Stir.
Add in palm sugar, salt, fish sauce, chicken bouillon, five-spice, ginger, and onion.
Before adding more hot water into the pot, add the clean pork bones and butt in first. Then fill water up to the "max line" in your instant pot. Close lid and set on "broth mode" for 30-minutes.
Quick-release the instant pot. Remove pork bones and butt. Allow to cool and slice into thick or thin pieces. Set aside.
Remove ginger, onion and discard.
Using a fat skimmer/broth straining ladle, remove some of the debris that is floating at the top and discard.
Set instant pot on sauté mode again. Add quail eggs. Add more hot water to fill the pot all the way up till just 1-inch below the pot's lip. Turn off and keep warm when simmering begins.
The broth is all done!
{Now it's time to prepare the shrimp, fish cake, and glass noodles.}
Add clean and deveined shrimp to room temperature water into a pot. Add one teaspoon salt. Bring it to a simmer. As soon as the shrimp curls and becomes opaque in color, it is cooked. To prevent overcooking, add to an ice bath immediately. Drain and set aside for later.
Slice store-bought fish cake into thin slices and set aside.
Add 1 teaspoon salt and glass noodles (I'm using potato starch noodles with a medium thickness) to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Stir often to prevent noodles from sticking together or at the bottom. Cook for 10-minutes. Remove and rinse under cold tap water to stop the cooking. (If you are using a different type of noodle, please follow the package instructions.)
Bundle the noodles into individual portions to prevent sticking. Side aside for later.
{Fresh Herbs & Veggies}
Soak and rinse veggies (chrysanthemum greens, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, Thai chili, and lime/lemon)
Thinly slice scallions and chili.
Slice lime/lemon into individual wedges.
Arrange and set on a serving table for guests to serve themselves or add to bowls before serving.
{Finally, it's time to put it all together!}
Set platter of veggies, herbs, chili, and lime/lemon aside for guests to add to their own bowls.
Grab a bowl and add a portion of glass noodles. (I love my veggies tender, so I always add them to the bottom and the hot broth will cook it!)
Top with pork butt slices, pork bones, shrimp, fish cake, and quail eggs.
Add broth and garnish with cilantro, green onions, and fried shallots.
Now slurp up this delicious creation and enjoy the clean umani flavors!
Equipment & Supplies
Instant Pot 8qt - https://amzn.to/3ewn4Cl
Broth Ladle Strainer/Fat Skimmer - https://amzn.to/3jVzZ1S
Five Spice - https://amzn.to/3p3W69U
Pure Palm Sugar Rounds - https://amzn.to/3mUa50k
Lucky Brand Thai Fish Sauce - https://amzn.to/2GAG3iI
Three Crab Fish Sauce - https://amzn.to/3jVXckw
Totole Chicken Bouillon - https://amzn.to/2GxZM2z
Dried Shrimp - https://amzn.to/3n2RCPn
Fried Shallots - https://amzn.to/2TY9Wwq
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