Súp Măng Cua [Vietnamese Wedding Soup]

soup, asparagus, crab, tofu, wedding

soup

Vietnamese

Yield: 16 portions [8 oz./serving]

Author: Chef Tu David Phu

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Súp Măng Cua [Vietnamese Wedding Soup]

Asparagus is grown in central and north Vietnam. And is not a common vegetable my family cooked with in Vietnam. However, we do love asparagus in our Diaspora communities. Most will identity this soups as Vietnamese Wedding Soup because it’s the soup everyone has at their Vietnamese wedding. This is my father’s version. California’s Dungeness crab season is very hostile. In these recent decades, it has seem to become more unstable. Between the California Department of Fish and Wild Life, And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they will shut the crab fishing season down for a number of reasons; humpback whales breeding waters where crabs are fished; toxic algal bloom from global warming. Thus, adding to the preciousness of Dungeness crab.

Ingredients

Crab Stock

• 5 each, Shells of Dungeness Crab [2 lbs. average size, yields 2 lbs of picked crab meat]
• 1 lbs, Pork Neck Bones
• 1 lbs, Chicken Bones
• 3 each, Corn Cobs [remove fresh kernels, reserve for later. Yields: 2 cups]
• 1 tbsp, Minced Ginger
• 1 bunch, Scallion Bottoms
• 2 each, Small Diced Yellow Onion
• 1 tbsp, Minced Garlic
• 8 quarts, Filtered Water

Make The Soup

• 8 quarts, Crab Stock
• 4 tbsp, Tapioca Starch
• 1/2 cup, Filtered Water
• 2 tbsp, Fish Sauce
• 1/2 tsp, Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp, Oyster Sauce
• 1/4 tsp, Sesame Oil
• 1/16 tsp, Ground White Pepper
• 2 lbs., Picked Dungeness Crab Meat
• 1/4 lb., Enoki Mushrooms (cleaned and cut off bottom root)
• 1/4 lb., Shiitake Mushrooms (de-stemmed and cut in quarters)
• 2 cups, Fresh Corn Kernels corn
• 1.5 cups, Slivered White Asparagus
• 8 oz., Cubed Soft Tofu [1"]
• 5 each, Chicken Eggs 

Garnish

• 1 tbsp., Crab Meat Chunks

Instructions

Steam Crabs

1. In a large food steamer, fill the pot with water, set it on high until the water boils. 
2. Allow the pot to continue to boil for 10 minutes, covered with a lid.
3. Place whole Dungeness crabs into the food steamer. Cook crabs on high steam for an estimate of 15 minutes. (or 7 minutes per pound. Do the calculation and use a timer)
4. Once the crab is cooked, use tongs to take the crab out, and immediately place the crab into an ice bath to prevent the crab from cooking further. 
5. Ice bath crab for 15 minutes, 
6. Remove crabs from Ice Bath.

Crack Crabs, Remove Meat, Save Shells

1. Remove Apron
2. The cover in between the crab’s hind legs
3. Remove Carapace (The Shell/Head]
4. removing the apron will expose a hole in between the crab’s hind legs
5. With one hand, place your thumb in that hole, all the while using the rest of your hand to cup the crab’s legs and body cavity. On the other hand, use to remove the shell/head of the crab.
6. Remove the gills and mandibles
7. Save the crab butter.
8. Liquid reserves and flesh within the shell/head are desirable flavors. Its flavor is comparable to uni. Eat immediately
9. Rinse the crab butter off of the body
10. Snap the crab body in half
11. Break the body halves into sections between each leg
12. Using your fingers, pick the meat from each section. Try to keep the crabmeat whole as possible.
13. Crack crab legs with crab cracker to remove meat
14. Save all crab shells for crab stock.

Make Crab stock

1. Gather all crab shells, rinse under running water to clean.
2. Drain the excess water
3. Rinse 1 lb. of pork neck bones until water runs clear. The addition of 1 tbsp of salt (pre-rinsing and rubbed) on pork neck bones will speed up the process.
4. Drain the excess water.
5. Preheat a large pot on medium heat for 2 minutes.
6. Then, add 1 tbsp of cooking oil.
7. Add all the crab shells.
8. Brown crab shells for 2-3 minutes.
9. Then add 1 tbsp of Minced Ginger, 1 tbsp of Minced Garlic, 1 bunch of Scallion Bottoms, and 2 each of Small Diced Yellow Onion.
10. Stir.
11. Sauteed on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
12. Add, 8 quarts of filtered water.
13. Last, add 3 each, Corn Cobs [remove fresh kernels, reserve for later. Yields: 2 cups]
14. Bring the pot to simmer. 
15. Skim every 15 minutes to remove any impurities that may surface.
16. Continue to simmer for 60 minutes.
17. Then drain through a fine-mesh strainer.

Make the Crab Soup

1. In a large pot, add 8 quarts of Crab Stock.
2. On medium heat, bring the pot to a soft simmer before the next step.
3. Add 1/4 lb of Shiitake and Enoki Mushrooms.
4. Add 2 cups of Corn Kernels
5. Add 1.5 cups of silvered Asparagus
6. Allow the pot to come back to a soft simmer
7. Cook for 15 minutes, skim any impurities that may surface
8. Gradually, add 1.5 lbs of picked crab meat (save 1/2 lb crab meat for garnish)
9. Gradually, add 8 oz. of cubed soft tofu
10. Bring soup to back up to a soft simmer before the next step.
11. In a separate bowl, separate 5 chicken eggs, and whisk with a fork.
12. Gradually, add the egg mixture to the large pot of soup while stirring the soup.
13. Continue to stir for 1 minute as this should result in beautiful ribbons of eggs in your soup.
14. Season the soup with 2 tbsp of Fish Sauce, 1/2 tsp of light Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp of Oyster Sauce, 1 tbsp of palm sugar, 2 tbsp of kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp of Sesame Oil.
15. Keep the pot on medium heat. However, do not all the pot to come to a simmer.
16. In a separate small bowl add 2 tbsp of Tapioca Starch. And with a fork, gradually add 1/2 cup of filtered water to make a slurry.
17. Gradually add the Tapioca slurry into the large pot, while stirring for 1 minute.
18. The pot will thicken as it heats up. DO NOT LET THE BOIL.
19. Turn off the pot once it comes to a soft simmer.
20. Season pot with 1/16 tsp of Ground White Pepper before serving.

Assemble

1. In a small bowl 

Notes:

What is Tapioca Flour? Tapioca flour is made from the pulp of cassava root. And is a wonderful thickener that is superior to arrowroot starch and potato starch.

[an except from Bob’s Red Mill]

cheftu.com/recipes/vietnameseweddingsoup

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @cheftudavidphu on instagram and hashtag it #