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*Bun rieu*
	A bowl of bún riêu and a dish of vegetables.
Type	Soup
Place of origin	Vietnam
Region or state	Southeast Asia
Main ingredients	Tomato, shrimp paste, meat, rice vermicelli
Variations	Bún riêu cua
	Media: Bun rieu;

Bún riêu is a traditional Vietnamese soup of clear stock and rice vermicelli. There are several varieties of bún riêu, including bún riêu cua (minced crab), bún riêu cá (minced crab and fish) and bún riêu ốc (minced crab and snail).^[1]^[2]

Bún riêu cua is served with tomato broth and topped with minced freshwater crab. In this dish, various freshwater paddy crabs are used, including the brown paddy crab found in rice paddies in Vietnam. The crabs are cleaned to remove dirt and sand, then pounded together (with the shell still on) into a fine paste. This paste is then strained — the liquid becoming the base for the soup along with tomato, and the solids used as the basis for crab cakes. Other ingredients for this dish include tamarind paste, fried tofu, mẻ or giấm bỗng (kinds of rice vinegar), quả dọc (Garcinia multiflora Champ.), annatto seeds (hạt điều màu) to redden the broth, huyết (congealed pig's blood), split water spinach stems, shredded banana flower, rau kinh giới (Elsholtzia ciliata), spearmint, perilla, bean sprouts and chả chay (vegetarian sausage). This dish is rich in nutrition: calcium from the ground crab shells, iron from the congealed pig's blood, and vitamins and fiber from the vegetables.^{[citation needed]}

Bún riêu has a fresh sour flavor, so Vietnamese people like to enjoy it in summer. There are many restaurants in Vietnam that sell this dish. ^{[citation needed]}

Ingredients

Paddy crabs (crab meat and crab roe) (cua đồng, gạch cua)
Tomato (cà chua)
Egg
Souring agents like Garcinia multiflora (quả dọc), dracontomelon (quả sấu), tamarind (quả me), starfruit (quả khế), rice vinegar (mẻ or giấm bỗng)
Onion
Fried tofu
Accompanying greens: sliced banana flowers (hoa chuối thái nhỏ), water spinach (rau muống)
Herbs: perilla (tía tô), Vietnamese balm (kinh giới)

References

^ Aruna Thaker, Arlene Barton Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics 2012 Page 171 "Bún riêu: Noodle soup .."
^ Vietweek May 18th 2012 print edition The market beyond the hedge "Not surprisingly, seasoned shoppers at Phung Hung delight in the fermented fiat of a soup so pungent, it makes bún riêu seem like a Cup-o-Noodles. Bún mắm allegedly came from the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, where Khmer, Chinese and Vietnamese communities have intermingled for centuries."