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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Bề bề (also known as mantis shrimp) is a seafood species familiar to the Vietnamese people. Today, let’s get cooking with TasteVN to create a soup dish of bún bề bề that is incredibly delicious and nutritious to treat the family!
Ingredients for Bún bề bề (mantis shrimp) Serves 4 people
Mantis shrimp 500 gr (tôm tít) Tomatoes 4 pieces Ginger 1 piece Green onion 2 pieces Common spices a little (salt/sugar/seasoning) Fresh noodles 1 kg Fish sauce 3 tablespoons Shallots 2 bulbs Coriander 2 pieces Fried onions a little Accompanying vegetables 300 gr (herbs/lettuce/banana flower/water spinach) Tofu 4 pieces Cooking oil 1 tablespoon
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh bề bề (mantis shrimp)
- When buying, choose those that are still alive and moving. This ensures the freshness of the bề bề.
- When selecting bề bề, you need to turn its belly up; if you see a pink streak at the tail, it means that it has eggs, which will add a very distinctive fat flavor when cooked.
- For frozen bề bề, you should buy from reputable places, ensuring that the packaging is intact with a clear origin and a long shelf life.
How to choose fresh tomatoes
- You should choose tomatoes with beautiful skin, a smooth surface, bright red color, and green stems.
- Do not choose those that are bruised or have uneven colors of both green and red.
- If you touch them and find them too soft or too hard, you should not buy them. If they leak water when touched, do not buy them as they are already spoiled or about to spoil.
See details: How to choose fresh tomatoes.
How to choose good tofu, without gypsum
- Good tofu should have an off-white color; tofu with gypsum will be yellower.
- If you hold a piece of tofu and it feels light and soft, you should buy it. Heavy, firm, slightly hard, and overly square pieces should not be purchased.
- Pure tofu will have a fragrant smell, while tofu with gypsum will smell like lime or have no smell at all.
See details: How to make tofu at home.
How to make Bun Be Be (mantis shrimp)
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Prepare and boil mantis shrimp
Add sliced ginger and 1 crushed shallot, then add the cleaned mantis shrimp into the pot and boil for about 5 minutes. After that, take them out to cool and peel to get the meat.
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Prepare the ingredients
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges.
Cut the tofu into small bite-sized pieces. Then fry until golden and crispy.
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Cook the broth
The heads and shells of the mantis shrimp should be blended with 600ml of water, then strain to extract the sweet water for the broth.
Place a pot on the stove, add one tablespoon of cooking oil, one minced shallot, and the chopped tomatoes, and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Next, pour the filtered broth from the mantis shrimp into the pot. Season with 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then bring to a boil for 15 minutes. After that, adjust the seasoning to your taste and turn off the heat.
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Final dish
Place fried tofu, mantis shrimp meat, herbs, and sprinkle chopped green onions and cilantro on top of the noodle bowl, then pour the broth over and enjoy right away.
With just a few simple steps, you can prepare this delicious mantis shrimp noodle dish.
You will experience the unique sweet flavor from the mantis shrimp meat while enjoying a hot bowl of noodles on a beautiful morning. To enhance the dish, you can serve it with fresh greens like lettuce, basil, or thinly sliced banana flowers and water spinach.
