Bun Rieu (Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup)

Directions

For Broth:

1. Add water to a 5-quart pot and boil. Add the noodles and cook about 2-3 minutes. Strain noodles and rinse with cold water. Set it aside.
2. To large stock pot, add pork bones. Fill with water, bring to a boil over high heat and boil about 3-4 minutes. Discard water.
3. Add 5 quarts of fresh water to the pork bones and boil for an hour or longer. The broth increases in flavor with each round of boiling.
4. Peel the shrimp. Reserve the shrimp in a bowl and put the head and shrimp shells into the pork broth.
5. Boil until the broth turns red from the shrimp shells, about 20 minutes. Remove the shells and pork bones from the broth.
6. Add the tamarind powder, shrimp paste, crab paste, sugar, salt and pepper into the broth and let boil.
7. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to broth.

For Meatballs:

8. In a food processor add the 2 pounds peeled shrimp, eggs, crab paste, shrimp paste, water, sugar, shallots, green onions and the white onion and pulse into a paste.
9. Gently fold in the crab meat with the shrimp paste until uniform.
10. Boil the broth from above. When boiling take the meatball mixture and make free formed meatballs and use a spoon to put them into the broth.
11. Add the fried tofu if using. The meatballs are done cooking when they start floating to the top.
12. If desired, chop remaining green onions and cilantro and quarter the limes.
13. Put noodles in a bowl and add any of the desired garnishes. Ladle in the broth with tomatoes and meatballs.
14. Squeeze some lime and add some chili sate and bean sprouts if using.