VEGETARIAN BUN RIEU

VEGETARIAN BUN RIEU

One of the most underrated noodles soups is bun rieu. I think pho dominates the Vietnamese noodle soup scene that people forget that there are other options out there! Having visited Vietnam two years ago, I know that there are many other options other than pho - eel, duck, crab, prawn…there’s pretty much a pho for everything.

Bun rieu is a southern Vietnamese noodle soup with a sour tomato soup based and traditionally served with crab, pork and fermented shrimp meatballs. The crab meatballs contribute a large amount of flavour to this dish but I got lazy at the last minute and was making this for my #SIAintheKitchen live cooking show on Instagram and didn’t end up making the meatballs. Oops.

Honestly, I’m still really happy with the flavour of the vegetarian version that I’ve made. It doesn’t take much time to prepare in advanced which makes it for a quick hot soup to whip up during the week. The only time consuming part would be chopping the vegetables and garnish up where you can soak the noodles in the meantime to cut down on time.

I’ll need to make a legit traditional version next time but for now, this’ll have to do!

VEGETARIAN BUN RIEU - makes 2 - 4 servings

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 4 shallots, minced

• 6 roma tomatoes, diced

• 1/4 cup fermented shrimp paste (Vietnamese or Thai)

• 2 tbsp fish sauce, more if needed

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1 tsp dashi powder

• 6 cups water (although crab or shrimp stock would be great here)

• 1/2 (500g) pkg rice vermicelli noodles, submerged in cold water

• cilantro, torn

• tofu puffs

• bean sprouts

1. Soak your rice vermicelli noodles in cold water. Submerge completely and set aside.

2. In a small soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat and add in the shallots. Saute until the shallots receive some colour, about 3 minutes or so. Add in the tomatoes and stir until the juices start to come out and the tomatoes begin to break down. Add in the fermented shrimp paste, dashi powder, sugar and ketchup. Pour in the water and bring to a boil.

3. Drain the noodles and pour hot, boiling water over top until the noodles are submerged. Let sit for 30 seconds or until the noodles are cooked. Drain and separate into bowls. Ladle the soup broth and garnish with tofu puffs, cilantro and bean sprouts.