This is my version of this delicious South Vietnamese noodles soup, made simple with Instant Pot. The broth is slightly thicker than other soup noodles, with a rich crab flavor, and perfect for slurping away…
There are many ways to prepare this dish, and the ingredients variations could be endless. Some recipes call for pork hocks, squids, clams or crab and shrimp meat balls, carrots and mushrooms etc.
I’m sure you will love my way of preparing this dish as it’s really simplified and absolutely delicious!
The Noodles
Banh Canh refers to thick Tapioca rice noodles with a chewy and slippery texture. I’m using this brand which is available in most Asian stores. If you can’t find it, Udon noodles would be a good substitute.
Tom means Shrimps and Cua means Crab
The Protein
This recipe includes pork spareribs (or pork chops), shrimps and crab. If you feel fancy, instead of shrimps, you could use 1 lobster tail per serving. Fresh crab is preferable, but you could also use frozen or canned crab meat.
In Vietnam, the seafood is fresh and plentiful, and this recipe is prepared with fresh whole crabs oozing with roe or tomalley which yields umami flavor and adds an orangey color to the broth. It’s rare to find this type of crab in the USA, so to get the enhanced crab flavor and orangey color, you could use these 2 ingredients, a crab paste in soybean oil (I use the below brand) and annatto oil (see below recipe).
It’s very easy to make your own anatto oil. The annatto or achiote seeds are available from Asian or Mexican/Latin stores.
Annatto Oil
Equipment
- Microwave-proof bowl
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (neutral)
- 4 tsp annato or achiote seeds
Instructions
- Put the oil and annato seeds in a microwave proof bowl – cover – Microwave on high for 90 seconds. Remove and stir – Microwave again for 60 seconds.
- Strain the oil and let cool before using or storing in closed jar in the refrigerator. It should keep for at least couple of weeks
If you can’t find the crab paste or annatto seeds, you could use instead the Korean fine red pepper powder which is not very spicy and can give a nice orangey/red color to the broth. Actually, it’s a preferred ingredient if you wish to use less oil.
Some recipes involve extra steps such as stir frying the crab and shrimps with the crab paste and aromatics such as shallots before adding the shellfish to the broth. But I have skipped this step for a simplified and lighter version and I can assure you that it still tastes amazing.
Crab and Shrimp Tapioca Noodles Soup – Banh Canh Tom Cua
Equipment
- Instant pot
Ingredients
- 2 lb 900 g Pork spare ribs or pork chops
- 20 Large Shrimps, shelled and deveined, or 4 Lobster tails.
- 1.5 lb 680 g fresh crab, quartered, or 1 lb (450 g) crab meat (frozen or canned).
- 1 Large Onion
- 1 Daikon, cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp Chicken Bouillon Powder
- 1 tbsp Rock Sugar (or regular sugar)
- 1 tsp Fish sauce to taste
- 1 tbsp Anatto Oil or 2 tspn Korean Red Pepper powder
- 1 tbsp Crab paste in soy bean oil
- 10 cups Water
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup water
Garnish
- 1 package tapioca rice noodles
- 1 cup finely sliced green onions
- 1 cup coriander
- 1 lime quartered
- 2 Thai chilies, sliced
- 2 tbsp crispy shallots (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the whole onion and put in toaster oven to broil for around 6 minutes.
- Wash the pork under running water and pat dry
- Wash the shrimps and fresh crabs and drain. If using frozen crab meat, you should defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
- Add the charred onion, daikon, onion, chicken powder, sugar, fish sauce and water in the Instant pot. Close the lid and set to High Pressure Cook for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil the noodles according to package instructions. Make sure not to overcook! Drain and divide into 4 large bowls.
- Wash and slice the green onion and coriander, set aside. Cut the lime into wedges
- Mix well the tapioca starch and water to make a slurry or liquidy paste
- When the Instant Pot pressure cook is done, manually release the steam and open the lid
- Cancel the pressure cook function. Remove the pork and divide among the 4 bowls. and turn on the saute function
- Add the crab paste, anatto oil (or red pepper powder).
- When the broth is boiling, add the crab and shrimps. Boil until the crab shell turns orange and the shrimps turn opaque. This should be quite quick, especially if using crab meat instead of fresh crab. Remove the seafood and divide among the 4 bowls. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning (add sugar or fish sauce according to your taste). Fresh crabs add natural sweetness to the broth. If you use frozen or canned crab, you may want to add a little more sugar to the broth.
- When the liquid boils again, add the tapioca starch/water slurry. Stir well to slightly thicken the broth.
- Pour the piping hot broth over the bowls of noodles, pork and seafood. Sprinkle the green onions, coriander and crispy shallots (if used) on top. Serve with lime wedges and sliced Thai chili on the side.
Ready to slurp this delicious bowl of thick noodles soup!
If you enjoy seafood soup noodles, click here for Bun Rieu or Vietnamese Crab and Tomato Noodles Soup, flavor bomb of a recipe, or here for the tantalizing Thai Seafood Khao Soi recipe!
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