Now that the cold weather is here, a warm bowl of Banh Canh is a must-have!
Vietnamese thick noodle Soup, or Banh Canh, is one of my favorite childhood foods. It’s the most simplest and purest of all the Vietnamese noodle soups.
As a kid, I ate it regularly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In its simplest form, it’s thick noodles in a rich and savory pork broth. There aren’t too many components like other Vietnamese noodle soups. However, variations of Banh Canh such as Banh Canh Cua can include proteins like crab, shrimp, fish balls, and fried fish cakes.
In restaurants, a side of Vietnamese herbs and greens also accompanies the noodle.
The Banh Canh noodles are thick and chewy, made from tapioca flour or a combination of tapioca flour and rice flour. They resemble Japanese udon noodles and quite often, I love to use Japanese udon noodles as a substitute.
The broth starts with pork bones like hocks and neck bones. If you prefer, you can use chicken stock instead. I like to save chicken bones from when I debone/prep whole chickens. You can also just throw in a whole chicken if you want.
The bones are simmered on low for two hours and then seasoned with fish sauce, salt, bouillon powder, and a bit of sugar for balance.
I like the broth on the thicker side so sometimes I would cook my noodles directly in the stock pot. The starchy noodles not only absorb the flavorful broth while cooking, but the starch from the noodles also thickens up the broth.
I also like to color my broth with annatto seeds. I heat the annatto seeds in vegetable oil to render the color and then add the colored oil to the broth. This is purely optional but the red color adds oomph to an otherwise seemingly plain dish.
My husband is not a big fan of this noodle soup because he gets hungry again quickly after a bowl. His dislike for Banh Canh is one reason I make this for dinner whenever he makes me mad.
However, lately, he has been asking for this soup. This throws my passive-aggressive-petty revenge out of whack.
Print
Vietnamese Thick Noodle Soup (Banh Canh)
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
A childhood favorite with thick noodles in a rich pork broth. The trickiest part is keeping those slippery noodles on the spoon!
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork bones (neck bones and/or spareribs)
- 3 quarts water
- 1 large yellow onion or 4 shallots (leave whole)
- 1 tablespoon chicken or mushroom bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon annatto oil (optional)
- 2 lbs Banh Canh or Udon Noodles
- 1/2 stick Vietnamese Ham (Cha Lua or Gio Lua)
- 1/2 stick fried fish cakes
- 2 scallions and/or a small bunch of cilantro (thinly sliced)
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the aromatics: Roast the onion or shallots in the oven at 400°F for about 15 minutes or when they become aromatic. Scrap off any charred areas to prevent browning the broth then set aside.
- Blanch the pork bones to get rid of the impurities (optional): Add the pork bones to a large stockpot and fill with water to cover by 1 inch. Boil the bones for 10 minutes or when you see a lot of foam at the top. Drain the content of the pot into a colander and rinse the bones under cold running water. This helps clean the bones, keeping the stock clear. It also helps rid of any lingering foul pork smell.
- Prepare the stock: Add water (3 quarts) to a stockpot and bring to a boil (if you are reusing the same stockpot that was used to blanch the bones, make sure to clean the pot thoroughly before adding water for the stock). Add the blanched bones and onions/shallots. Reduce the heat to your lowest setting and simmer for two hours uncovered. Remove the onions and pork bones from the broth and discard. Sometimes, I leave the bones if they still have a good amount of meat on them.
- Season the stock: Add chicken or mushroom bouillon powder, sugar, salt, and fish sauce. To color the broth red/orange which is optional, add annatto oil.
- Prepare the noodles: Cook the noodles per packaged instructions. If the noodles are sticking together, add ½ teaspoon vegetable or sesame seed oil and toss the noodles lightly together.
- Assemble and serve: Add a handful of noodles into a bowl. Add a few slices of Vietnamese Ham and fried fish cakes. Ladle in hot broth. Garnish with scallions/cilantro and a sprinkle of ground black pepper.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Category: entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: asian, vietnamese
