Image Credit: Vietnam Food Culture
Vietnam is known for its beaches, rivers and bustling cities. Surrounded by the South China Sea, the Vietnamese enjoys the abundance of seafood, which is evident in most of their cookings. One of their famous seafood dishes is ‘Sup Cua’.
What is Sup Cua?
‘Sup Cua’ means crab soup in Vietnamese. Crab has a lot of health benefits such as increasing the density of bones, improving heart health because of its omega-3 fatty acids, detoxing our bodies and increasing our blood circulation.
Sup Cua uses crab meat as the main ingredient. Aside from crab, you can add vegetables such as asparagus. If asparagus is not in your option, you may opt for corn and egg.
Thick or Clear?
Some people love to drink clear soup. If you are one of them, you can always go for simple, clear soup with a hint of crab taste in it. You may want to add a few more ingredients to diversify the flavour. A bowl of soup can never go wrong with cabbage, carrot slices, potatoes and onions.
If you love the thick texture, crab soup with corn and eggs is the soup to go. The eggs mixture will thicken the soup and it is relatively easy to make.
The typical ‘Sup Cua’ the Vietnamese love is ‘Sup Mang Cua’ or ‘Sup Man Tay Cua’, which is crab soup with asparagus. For this dish, since there is no egg drop in it, you may need corn flour or corn starch to thicken the soup texture, add some drops of vinegar and you are good to go!
History of Crab soup (Sup Cua)
Sup Cua is a famous celebratory dish in Vietnam. The ingredients used are exquisite and sometimes challenging to obtain. It is usually served for dinner, weddings and special occasions. The asparagus adds a natural sweetness to the tanginess of the crab, diversifying the flavour of the soup. This sums up the cooking methodology of the Vietnamese people where simple ingredients are used with varying colours and textures to create one delicious dish.
With that being said, soups are a great way to unwind on a cold day or even on a day you need some comfort. Find out more about Vietnamese cuisine on foodpanda!