Learn to Cook Crab and Beef Rib Soup That Rivals Restaurant Quality - Mytour

• Wild crab: ½ kg 
• Beef sirloin: ½ kg
• Cartilage ribs: ½ kg
• Tomatoes: 4 fruits
• Tofu: 5 pieces
• Fresh rice vermicelli: 1kg
• Scallions: 1 small bunch
• Dried shallots: 2 bulbs
• Shrimp paste: 1 spoon
• Banana flowers: 1 piece
• Ginger: 1 small sprig
• Preserved or substitute with sour tamarind, sour mangosteen
• Accompanying vegetables: Water spinach, coriander, lettuce
• Seasonings: Fish sauce, seasoning powder, soup powder

Photo credit: Collected

Processing steps

Step 1: Prepare accompanying ingredients

• Clean and soak the accompanying vegetables in diluted salt water for about 5 minutes, then drain.
• Trim the roots off the scallions, wash thoroughly, and cut into bite-sized pieces. 
• Clean the tomatoes, core them. 
• Gently rinse the tofu with water, cut into small pieces, drain, then fry until golden on both sides.
• Pour water into the fermented rice bowl, stir well, strain, and retain the fermented water, discarding the residue.
• Thinly slice the banana blossoms, soak in diluted lemon salt water, then wash thoroughly and drain.

Photo credit: Phan Minh Trang

Step 2: Prepare and process the beef portion

• Crush ginger, mix with a pinch of salt and white wine, then lightly rub onto the meat pieces
• Wash the meat thoroughly and place it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This method will make slicing the meat easier.
• Cut the beef into bite-sized pieces. Thinly sliced meat cooks quickly and is more tender. After cutting, arrange the meat on a plate and decorate it for the beef and crab meat hotpot for a more visually appealing presentation.

Image source: Collected

Step 3: Prepare and cook the cartilage ribs

• Peel and finely chop the dried shallots. 
• Cut the cartilage ribs into bite-sized pieces, wash thoroughly with salt water, and blanch briefly in boiling water.
• Marinate half of the cartilage ribs with fish sauce, seasoning powder, and soup powder.
• Saute the dried shallots until fragrant, add the cartilage ribs and stir-fry briefly, then add water and simmer for about 30 minutes to make the hotpot broth.
• Place the remaining cartilage ribs on a plate to serve as a dipping part for the hotpot.

Step 4: Prepare the wild crab

• Add ½ kg of crab into a small pot, sprinkle some salt into the pot, cover tightly, shake well to remove all dirt from the crab, then rinse with clean water and drain
• Peel the crab claws, discard the gills
• Use a toothpick to separate the crab meat and place it in a bowl
• Mash or grind the crab meat
• Add 500ml of filtered water to the mashed crab meat, stir well, then strain through a sieve to extract pure water, discard the residue. At this step, you do not need to add much water for easier straining
• After straining the crab water, add more filtered water to make enough broth, add a little soup powder so that the crab water does not spoil
• Put the crab broth pot on the stove, simmer over medium heat, uncovered
• When you see the crab roe floating, gently push it aside with salt or chopsticks to get the large crab roe
• Gently scoop out the crab roe into a separate bowl, turn off the heat

Pro tip: To keep the crab roe intact and moist without drying out, add 1 spoon of ground pork into the crab broth pot.

Image: Collection

Step 5: Sauté the crab roe

• Sauté dry shallots until fragrant, add crab roe and stir-fry until cooked. Season with a bit of fish sauce for a richer flavor, then turn off the heat and transfer the crab roe to a separate bowl. You can add a little sesame oil for a nicer color.
• With the pan still hot, lightly sauté the tomatoes without crushing them. 

Step 6: Prepare the broth for crab and beef rice vermicelli soup

• Combine crab broth, pork rib broth, and lightly sautéed tomatoes in a large pot
• Add tamarind juice (or sour fruits, sour star fruits, sour me), seasonings, and a small spoon of shrimp paste (if you can tolerate it, otherwise you can skip the shrimp paste)
• Bring the soup pot to a boil and finally add the crab roe on top to make the soup more appealing. 

3. Finished product

Arrange assorted vegetables, beef, cartilage ribs, tofu, and fresh noodles on a plate. 

Bring a pot of boiling hotpot broth to a rolling boil, then dip the beef along with the other ingredients and enjoy.

The crab and beef rice vermicelli soup has the sweet taste of crab roe, smooth beef vermicelli, eaten with crispy fresh vegetables that are extremely appetizing. In winter, there's nothing better than slurping up piping hot hotpot like this.

Image: Phan Minh Trang

4. Secrets to cooking delicious crab and beef rice vermicelli soup

Some handy tips from Mytour Blog will make your hotpot even more fragrant and flavorful.

Tips for choosing field crabs

The best field crabs should be bought around May, June, or October. This is after the harvest season, when field crabs are at their best and firmest. Female crabs usually have more fragrant meat, more roe, and are much fattier. When buying crabs, you just need to flip them over and look at the belly. If the belly is large, it means it's a female crab, otherwise, it's a male crab. 

Choose healthy crabs with all legs, and the belly should feel firm when touched. This type of crab is usually fresher and has more meat, perfect for hotpot. Avoid choosing overly large crabs, opt for ones with moderate size.

Tips for choosing delicious beef shank

For delicious beef shank, choose the turtle shank part (the small meaty part between the large thigh bone). The flower shank part is larger and located in the front legs. When dipping in hotpot, the turtle shank is still the best with tender meat and less tendon, more cartilage. 

Tips for choosing cartilage ribs

Delicious fresh cartilage ribs have pink meat, good elasticity, and no foul smell. Ideally, you should choose ribs with plenty of cartilage and meat. 

Image: Collection

Handy tips for cooking crab and beef rice vermicelli soup

• Prepare the ingredients carefully to ensure the flavor of the dish and food safety. 
• Before cooking field crabs, soak them for a few hours to remove all mud and dirt.
• When preparing banana blossoms, finely slice them and soak them in a mixture of salted water and lime juice to prevent browning.
• To enhance the aroma and richness of the hotpot, you can add shrimp paste.
• The best vegetables to accompany crab and beef rice vermicelli soup are water spinach, Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, coriander, lettuce, These vegetables are rich in vitamins, dipped in sour broth, they taste delicious.

A pot of crab and beef rice vermicelli soup steaming hot will be perfect for everyone in the family to gather together and enjoy. Let's join Mytour Blog in the kitchen to cook this super delicious beef shank hotpot to treat your family today.