Canh Cua Rau Đay (Canh cua rau đay)
Overview
Canh cua rau đay is a northern Vietnamese summer soup made from small freshwater paddy crabs, cua đồng. The cleaned crabs are pounded whole in a mortar with a little salt, mixed with water and strained, and the liquid is heated slowly so that the crab meat and roe rise and gather into soft golden curds on top. Chopped jute leaves, rau đay, and sometimes Malabar spinach and slices of luffa are added, which make the broth silky. The soup is seasoned with fish sauce and fried shallots and eaten cool or warm with rice and pickled baby eggplants, cà pháo.
History
Canh cua is a symbol of the rural cooking of the Red River Delta, where children and farmers caught the small crabs in the flooded rice fields. In the hot, humid northern summer it is considered cooling and refreshing, and the meal of crab soup, pickled eggplant and rice appears in many Vietnamese songs and memories of home. It is still made in Hanoi homes and simple restaurants every summer.
Main ingredients
Paddy crabs, jute leaves, luffa, shallots, fish sauce, pickled eggplant. The soup is built on paddy crab broth and is usually served hot. Diet: pescatarian; usually gluten-free.
Explore: Fish and seafood soups · More soups from Vietnam
Recipe
Method
- 1
Pound the crabs with a pinch of salt, add 1.5 l water, stir and strain through a fine sieve.
- 2
Heat the liquid slowly, stirring gently at first, until the crab curds rise; do not stir once they form.
- 35 min
Add the luffa and jute leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.
- 4
Season with fish sauce and add the fried shallots.
- 5
Serve with rice and pickled eggplant.
- ✓
Serve. About 50 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
