How to Cook Stinky Crab Noodle Soup – Fragrant and Flavorful Gia Lai Crab Fermented Noodle Soup

How to prepare Stinky Crab Noodles – Gia Lai Crab Fermented Noodles

• 1

  Prepare the crab

  Freshwater crabs should be washed clean with several rounds of water, then remove the shell and the abdomen, keeping only the body; the crab fat should be separated into a separate bowl.

  Tip: To easily remove the shell and abdomen when the crab is still alive, add 1 teaspoon of salt and shake well; at this point, the crab will become sluggish and weak, making it easier for you to handle.

  

  
• 2

  Prepare other ingredients

  Bamboo shoots should be washed clean, drained, and then sliced thinly for easy eating.

  Duck eggs should be washed clean with water, then boiled until cooked and peeled.

  Tip: You can substitute duck eggs with chicken eggs depending on your preference.

  Pork belly should be rinsed with diluted salt water, then washed again with clean water and boiled until cooked. After the meat is cooked, slice it thinly for easy eating.

  Ginger leaves, cilantro, and sawtooth coriander should be washed clean, chopped finely, and placed on a plate; chili should be sliced thinly and placed in a bowl.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Blend and filter the crab

  Add 2 ladles of filtered water and about 200g of crab meat into a blender to blend until smooth, then pour the blended crab into a bowl. Do the same until all the crab meat is blended.

  Next, use a pot and a strainer to filter the blended crab to remove the crab solids. Filter like this about 4 – 5 times until the crab water is clear and no longer contains crab solids.

  Tip

  • To prevent the crab water from turning black during cooking, you should carefully remove the crab solids.
  • The crab water will become more beautifully red if you add about 5 finely chopped green onion tops to it.

  

  
• 4

  Sun-dry the crab water

  Add 1 teaspoon of coarse salt to the crab water in a pot, then stir until the salt is completely dissolved, cover the pot, and take it out to sun-dry for about 12 – 15 hours to achieve a beautiful red color and enhance the aroma.

  
• 5

  Frying Shallots and Garlic

  Place a pan on the stove, add 6 tablespoons of cooking oil, and 2 teaspoons of minced shallots to fry.

  When the minced shallots start to turn golden, add 2 teaspoons of minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of minced chili to fry together.

  When the fried shallots mixture is slightly golden, transfer it to a bowl, leaving about 2 tablespoons of fried shallots and garlic and oil in the pan.

  

  
• 6

  Sautéing Crab Meat

  Add the bowl of crab meat to the pan with the fried shallots and garlic, then sauté on medium heat for about 5 – 10 minutes until the crab meat thickens, then transfer it to a bowl.

  
• 7

  Sautéing Pork Belly and Bamboo Shoots

  Continue using the pan that sautéed the crab meat, add 2 tablespoons of fried shallots and garlic and oil, 500g of thinly sliced pork belly and sauté until the meat is firm, then reduce the heat.

  Then season the meat in the pan with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce. Continue to sauté for about 2 minutes for the meat to absorb the seasonings. At this point, you can adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste.

  When the pork belly has absorbed the seasonings, add 300g of boiled bamboo shoots that have been thinly sliced and sauté for about 3 – 5 minutes for the bamboo shoots to absorb the flavor, then turn off the heat.

  

  
• 8

  Cooking crab sauce

  You place the pot of crab sauce on the stove after it has been sun-dried, use a ladle to stir evenly until the crab water is about to boil, then add all the fried onions and remaining oil to the pot to enhance the aroma of the crab sauce.

  Continue to add the stir-fried pork belly and bamboo shoots into the pot of crab sauce.

  Tip: To prevent the crab sauce from clumping, stir continuously with chopsticks or a ladle during cooking.

  When the crab sauce is boiling, add 2 teaspoons of coarse salt, 2 teaspoons of rock sugar, 4 teaspoons of monosodium glutamate, 3 teaspoons of seasoning powder, 3 teaspoons of sugar, and 3 teaspoons of fish sauce, then stir well to dissolve all the seasonings. You can adjust the seasoning of the crab sauce to suit your family’s taste.

  Then add 5 sliced shallots to make the crab sauce more fragrant; when the crab sauce boils again, add 15 duck eggs to the pot.

  Tip: To make the crab sauce clearer, skim off the excess foam on the surface of the pot.

  Cook the crab sauce on the stove for about 5 minutes to let all the ingredients absorb the seasonings, then add the stir-fried crab roe and 3 tablespoons of satay into the pot, stir well with a ladle, and it’s done.

  

  

  
• 9

  Completion

  Add a little chopped herbs into the pot of rotten crab noodle – crab noodle soup is complete.

  When enjoying, you just need to add a bit of fresh noodles (or rice vermicelli), scoop a ladle of broth, one egg, a bit of pork belly, and bamboo shoots into the bowl, then top with two shrimp chips and a bit of herbs; you can add sliced fresh chili if you like it spicy.

  The bowl of noodles will taste better and not be greasy when you enjoy it with a bit of fresh vegetables.

  So the bowl of rotten crab noodle – Gia Lai crab noodle soup is ready for you to enjoy right away.

  
• 10

  Final Product

  The dish of rotten crab noodle – Gia Lai crab noodle soup after completion will have its own distinctive flavor, with a rich broth harmonizing with the creaminess of duck eggs, the sweetness of pork belly, and bamboo shoots. Let’s get into the kitchen and make this enticing dish right away.