[Bánh đúc riêu cua - a delicious old dish of Hanoi[/B]

How to make rice cake with crab broth - a delicious old dish of Hanoi - Each soft and smooth rice cake strand is blended in the fatty crab broth, with the mild sourness of fermented vinegar combined with tomatoes enhancing the natural sweetness of freshwater crabs. This is a delightful autumn treat from ancient Hanoi.

How to make
Freshwater crabs bought should be placed in a high basin, shaken vigorously and rinsed clean. Remove the shell, separate the belly, and extract the yellow crab roe, putting it aside on a sieve and rinsing lightly in water to clean off any dark parts (which can cause a fishy smell when preparing). Clean the crab body, let it drain, then put it into a mortar with a pinch of salt and grind finely. Salt is the secret that helps the protein from the crab meat stick together, forming a lump when cooked. Add a little water into the mortar, use your hands to squeeze the crab meat until it dissolves, let it settle, then filter out the liquid. Continue to grind and filter several times to extract all the crab meat.


The rice cake eaten with crab broth is vegetarian rice cake, thick and without peanuts. Use a sharp knife to slice thinly and then cut into strands, slightly larger than the rice noodle.


Fried chili: It should be made in advance for many Hanoi dishes like cold snail noodles, hot snail noodles, crab noodle soup, rice cake with crab broth... Sauté fragrant shallots with lard, add a little chili oil for beautiful color, then add chili powder to fry on low heat. Season with a little salt for flavor. If chili oil is not available, you can finely chop tomatoes, fry them down, and then add chili powder to create color and thickness. Let it cool for the oil to absorb into each chili pepper for an attractive reddish-brown color.


Take one tomato and make a cross cut, briefly blanch in boiling water, peel and finely chop to fry with crab roe for a beautiful color. The remaining tomatoes are cut into wedges. Wash and drain various herbs for garnishing, then chop finely.


Put the crab broth pot on the stove over medium heat, stirring evenly in one direction to prevent the crab meat from sticking to the bottom. When the crab meat starts to float and the broth becomes clear, lower the heat, use a ladle to scoop the meat into a bowl, pressing to drain excess liquid. At this point, the crab meat forms a lump.


Sauté fragrant shallots, add the finely chopped tomatoes along with a bit of fish sauce to soften quickly. When the tomatoes are soft, add the crab roe and stir evenly until the roe thickens slightly. Scoop this fried crab roe onto the bowl of crab broth to enhance the flavor. Pour this mixture into the crab broth pan.


Sauté fragrant shallots with lard, add the chopped tomatoes and stir-fry until soft along with some fish sauce. Add the sautéed tomatoes to the crab broth pot. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Gradually add the good quality fermented vinegar, adjusting the sourness to taste, and possibly adding a little sugar to soften the broth.


Scoop the sliced rice cake into a beautiful bowl, put the fried crab and crab meat on top, add fried pork fat (optional), place a couple of pieces of tomato on top, sprinkle with finely chopped scallions, and then ladle the crab broth gently to soak the bowl. Add a spoonful of fried chili and shrimp paste for aromatic flavor. This dish is enjoyed with finely chopped fresh herbs.


Product requirement: Each strand of white, smooth rice cake is blended in the beautiful red crab broth, enhancing the mild sourness of fermented vinegar. This rustic dish is an autumn treat from ancient Hanoi.

Note:
Originally, rice cake was a rustic dish from a time of hardship. Gradually, people in Hanoi refined it, combining various ingredients to create many elegant dishes with their unique flavors such as: rice cake with crab broth, hot rice cake, salad rice cake, fried onion rice cake eaten with fried tofu dipped in chili vinegar... According to writer Băng Sơn, during the lunar months of July and August, many families in ancient Hanoi made fermented vinegar rice cake from rice soaked for 2-3 days until soft and sour, then ground into flour to make rice cakes, adding peanuts and coconut for deliciousness.

The crab broth of Hanoi style for dishes like crab noodle soup and rice cake with crab broth has the mild sourness of fermented vinegar and tomatoes that highlight the sweet and rustic flavor of freshwater crabs. These dishes often feature a touch of shrimp paste for even more flavor, satisfying the palate of food enthusiasts. In Bắc Ninh, there is also crab rice cake known as "driverless rice cake". When making the broth, people from Kinh Bắc also add some pickled mustard greens and sour fruits.

Ancient people had a saying "the fat color of crab broth" to describe its attractive appearance, the crab broth must have the reddish color of tomatoes mixed with the golden-yellow of fried crab roe, making it visually appealing.

Pay attention to choose fresh crabs with indicators such as shiny and hard shells, sufficient claws and legs, moving quickly. If you want to have more meat broth, choose male crabs (small, sharp abdominal flap), and if you want more roe, female crabs (large abdominal flap). Additionally, turn the crab over and press down; if the flap is firm, it has plenty of meat, while if it is soft, the crab is underwhelming, has little meat, and may have a foul smell.

Grinding crabs by hand with a pinch of salt and filtering multiple times will yield more meat, allowing for prettier lumps when cooked. Avoid filtering through a sieve, as the crab meat tends to stick to it.