Hu tieu Nam Vang is loved for its clear broth, its lingering sweetness and everything piled into the bowl. The difficulty is simmering the bones for 60 to 90 minutes and still ending up with clear broth.
The dried squid is toasted until fragrant before it goes into the pot with the dried shrimp and charred shallots, and that is exactly where the broth gets its signature aroma. The pot needs skimming throughout. The ground pork is fried with the fried garlic, and some of the garlic oil is held back to spoon over each bowl.
This batch weighs about 5.7kg, at roughly 52 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 800g pork bones, blanch them in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, then discard the water and rinse again to clear any residue. Toast 1 dried squid until fragrant, rinse 30g dried shrimp, and char 2 shallots until the skins blacken, then bruise them.
Put the bones in a pot with 3 liters of cold water and add the charred shallots, dried shrimp and dried squid. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, skimming constantly so the broth stays clear.
Drop 200g fresh shrimp into the gently simmering broth, cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then lift them out and peel them, leaving the tails on. Poach 150g pork liver in the broth for about 15 minutes until no pink remains when cut, cool it and slice it thinly. Boil 12 quail eggs for 5 minutes, cool them in cold water and peel them.
Marinate 200g ground pork with 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon ground pepper and 1 minced shallot for 10 minutes. Fry 1 minced shallot with 5 minced garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons cooking oil until golden and crisp, then add the pork and stir fry until just cooked and broken up. Hold back some of the fried garlic and garlic oil to spoon over the bowls.
Remove the bones, dried shrimp, dried squid and charred shallots, and strain the broth. Season with 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon seasoning powder, taste again, and keep the broth at a gentle simmer.
Soak 400g dried hu tieu noodles in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes until soft, then drain. Wash 300g of greens, cut the garlic chives into 3 to 4cm lengths, chop the celery, slice the chilies and cut the limes into wedges.
Blanch the noodles in boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds and put them in a bowl. Arrange the bean sprouts, garlic chives, shrimp, garlic fried pork, liver and quail eggs on top, ladle over the hot broth, then scatter with fried garlic, garlic oil, celery and pepper. Serve with lime, chili and hoisin sauce.
Tips
Toasting the dried squid before it goes into the pot gives the broth its signature aroma alongside the dried shrimp.
Skimming constantly through the whole simmer is what keeps the broth clear.
Strain the broth before seasoning to catch the last of the sediment.
Lift the pork liver out as soon as it is poached, since left in the pot it turns mealy and makes the broth heavy.
Blanch the hu tieu noodles for exactly 10 to 15 seconds, since longer leaves them mushy.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.