Noodles / Pork / Vietnamese
Vietnamese Pork Udon Soup (Bánh Canh Giò Heo)
What is Bánh Canh Giò Heo?
Bánh canh giò heo is a Vietnamese noodle soup with thick, chewy noodles (similar to udon) in a clear, savory pork broth. It's topped with tender pork feet (giò heo), and daikon gives the broth a natural sweetness.
Watch How to Make It
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Vietnamese Pork Udon Soup (Bánh Canh Giò Heo)
Ingredients
For the broth
- 4 lb pork soup bones
- 2 lb pig trotters
- 1 large white radish (daikon) peeled, cut into large chunks
- 1 large white onion whole, peeled
- ½ cup dried shrimp soaked in water
- 2 dried squid
- water about 6 qt, plus more for parboiling
- salt plus more for parboiling
To season the broth
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce to taste
- ½ tablespoon sugar to taste
- 1 tablespoon chicken powder to taste
- salt to taste
To serve
- bánh canh noodles
- 1 tub cooked pork blood cubes cut into cubes
- fried fish cakes sliced
- green onion sliced
- cilantro chopped
- fried shallots
- black pepper freshly crushed
Instructions
Parboil
- Add the pork soup bones and pig trotters to a large pot, cover with water and salt heavily. Bring to a boil to parboil and release all the scum.
- Drain, then clean the bones and trotters thoroughly under running water. Add them back to a clean pot with clean water.
Make the broth
- While the pot heats, peel the daikon and cut it into large chunks. Soak the dried shrimp in water; they help sweeten the broth. Add the dried squid as well.
- Add everything to the pot along with 1 whole white onion. Add salt and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, skim the foam from the top. Lower the heat and simmer.
- After two hours, take out the pig trotters and let them cool in a bowl of cold water.
- After another hour, remove the bones and everything else from the broth.
- Add more water as needed and season with fish sauce, sugar, chicken powder and salt to taste.
Prep the toppings
- Cut the cooked pork blood into cubes and slice the fried fish cakes.
- Cook the bánh canh noodles according to the package, then drain.
Assemble
- Before serving, blanch the noodles, trotters, fish cakes and blood cubes in the hot broth to warm them through, then add to a bowl.
- Garnish with green onion, fried shallots and cilantro, crack fresh black pepper over the top, and ladle in the hot broth.
Notes
Pork blood: I buy raw pork blood at 99 Ranch and cook it into cubes, or look for pre-cooked blood cubes at Asian grocery stores.
