Quick and super easy to make, this Vietnamese crab and asparagus soup (also called súp măng cua) is a healthy flavorful bomb to your tastebuds! It also only requires a handful of ingredients. I grew up with this soup and my dad used to make this occasionally. Now, everytime I make it, it reminds me of my childhood. Vietnamese crab and asparagus soup is influence by the French colony, just like the Vietnamese sandwich (Banh Mi). It is considered an egg-drop soup that is served during weddings and big occasions. However, due to its simplicity, but yet so tasty, I make it frequently especially during crab season in West America and would eat it as a main meal. Because of its high protein content from the crab, I find the soup quite filling.
Ingredients you need:
- Crab: Since it is crab season here, I chose to use fresh dungeoness crab. However, you can choose to use fresh, frozen or lump crab meat that you can find in the seafood refrigerated section of the grocery store.
- Asparagus: As I mentioned earlier, crab and asparagus soup is influenced by the French cuisine because asparagus does not grow in Vietnam due to the climate. In Vietnam, canned asparagus is used to make this recipe as opposed to fresh ones. I used fresh asparagus here because it brings more flavors. Once the soup is made, you can really taste the delicious asparagus with the crab meat.
- Fish sauce: Fish sauce is THE ingredient found in pretty much all Vietnamese cooking and brings so much umami to any dish. Make sure you use a good quality fish sauce if you plan on investing in this ingredient for future Asian cooking. Moreover, since we are using fish sauce in this recipe, you can omit the salt.
- Cornstarch: The soup has a slightly thickened consistency by using cornstarch that is mixed with water (slurry).
You can store any leftovers of this soup in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days!
HOW TO MAKE VIETNAMESE CRAB & ASPARAGUS SOUP
In a Dutch oven or soup pot, add olive oil on medium heat and sweat onions until they become translucent. This will take about 10 minutes.
Add minced garlic, asparagus, crab meat, vegetable/chicken stock, fish sauce and bring it to a boil.
Decrease heat to low and whisk in beaten eggs. Here, you will need to stir so the eggs don’t clump together.
Pour the slurry (cornstarch mixed with water) and mix until the soup has thickened. Serve hot and garnish with fresh cilantro.
If you enjoyed this soup and are craving for more, check out my other Vietnamese recipes!
Pork, Shrimp & Chicken Wontons
Vietnamese Pork & Spinach Dumplings
Moreover, if you’ve tried this Vietnamese Crab and Asparagus Soup recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can let me know how it went by commenting in the comments section below and don’t forget to leave a rating!
Equipment
- Dutch oven or Soup pot
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ lb asparagus hard stem removed and cut into 1 inch long pieces
- 1 lb crab meat fresh or frozen
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 2-3 TBSP fish sauce
- 3 eggs beaten
- ¼ cup cornstarch diluted into 1/2 cup of water or stock
- Pepper to taste
- Fresh cilantro to garnish optional
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or soup pot, add olive oil on medium heat and sweat onions until they become translucent.
- Add minced garlic, asparagus, crab meat, vegetable/chicken stock, fish sauce and bring it to a boil. Decrease heat to low and whisk in beaten eggs by stirring to avoid the eggs from clumping.
- Pour the slurry (cornstarch mixed with water) and mix until the soup has thickened.
- Serve hot and garnish with fresh cilantro.
