How to cook delicious and flavorful octopus noodle soup that you can’t resist

How to prepare Octopus Noodle Soup

• 1

  Prepare the octopus

  Clean the octopus, remove the internal organs, and rub it with salt to eliminate the fishy smell; rinse it with clean water and let it drain.

  Tip to prepare octopus without fishy smell

  • Wash the octopus briefly with water, cut the tentacles away from the body, then use a knife to cut the head of the octopus in half.
  • After cutting the head of the octopus, remove all the internal organs, then gently wash the octopus with salt and knead it slightly to eliminate the slimy substance. Rinse thoroughly with water until clean.

  

  
• 2

  Prepare other ingredients

  Wash the pork bones with cold water, then soak them in diluted salt water for about 1 – 1.5 hours to remove dirt and fishy smell.

  Take the pork bones out and rinse them again with cold water. Then blanch the bones in boiling water for about 5 – 7 minutes to remove all dirt and the fishy smell of the meat.

  For 500g of ground freshwater crab, filter out the water, discarding the residue and shell remains.

  Wash the tomatoes, then cut them into wedges. Chop the cilantro and green onions. Slice the shallots thinly.

  Wash the blood pudding to remove dust, then blanch it in boiling water, then rinse with cold water to prevent it from being porous, and cut the blood pudding into small bite-sized pieces.

  Wash the tofu, then cut it into small bite-sized pieces.

  For the water spinach, remove the leaves, keeping only the tender stems, soak them in salt water for about 15 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Boil a pot of water with a little salt added. When the water begins to boil for about 2 minutes, add the water spinach, blanching until the water boils again, then remove and immediately transfer to a bowl of cold water.

  Tips for blanching water spinach to keep it green and crispy:

  • You should let the water boil thoroughly before adding the water spinach; do not add it when the water is still cold to avoid making the vegetables soft and mushy.
  • Add a little salt or a bit of lemon juice to the blanching water to help the vegetables retain their beautiful green color.
  • Additionally, transferring the vegetables immediately to cold water when they are cooked also helps them stay crispy and prevent them from turning dark.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Sauté tomatoes and fry tofu

  Place a pan on the stove, add cooking oil and sauté minced shallots until fragrant, then add all the tomato wedges and stir evenly over high heat. When the tomatoes are just cooked, add 1 teaspoon of crab roe color, stir quickly, then turn off the heat.

  Tips for crispy and delicious shallots

  • Fry shallots in a large amount of oil to make them crispy and evenly golden.
  • You should wait until the oil is just starting to heat up before adding the shallots; do not add them too early as they will become soft, and if added too late, they will burn.
  • When the shallots start to turn golden, turn off the heat immediately and stir with chopsticks 3 – 4 times, then remove them right away, as leaving them to turn golden before turning off the heat will make them bitter.
  • Before frying, you can sun-dry the shallots for an hour, this will help them become crispier.

  Tips for storing unused shallots

  For the shallots that you do not use up, place them in a food container or a sealed bag, and store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator for about 1 – 2 months.

  Place another pan on the stove with cooking oil and, once the oil is hot, add the tofu and fry over medium heat until golden and crispy, then remove and drain the oil.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Prepare the broth

  Add the filtered mud crab water into the pot, boil over medium heat until it boils, use a spoon to remove the crab meat that floats to the top into a bowl.

  After removing all the crab meat, add the cleaned bone marrow into the pot and simmer for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  When the broth has simmered for about 1 hour, proceed to remove the bone marrow from the pot.

  Next, add the tomatoes and octopus into the pot, and cook for another 10 minutes before removing the octopus.

  Tip:

  • When removing crab meat, be gentle to avoid breaking it.
  • While cooking the broth, regularly skim off the foam to keep the broth clear.
  • Avoid cooking the octopus for too long as it will become tough and lose its sweetness.

  Add all the chopped blood, fried tofu, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1.5 tablespoons of seasoning powder to the pot, stir well, and wait for the broth to boil again before turning off the heat.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Completion

  Add noodles, fish cakes, blanched water spinach, octopus, blood, tofu, onions, and cilantro into a bowl. Pour the broth on top, and garnish for an appealing look to complete the dish.

  

  

  
• 6

  Final Product

  Just a few simple steps and you have completed the octopus noodle soup for the whole family to enjoy. The broth is rich and flavorful, the octopus is chewy and sweet, along with the refreshing sourness of tomatoes that will surely make you exclaim.