Banh Canh – Vietnamese “Udon”

Banh Canh – Vietnamese “Udon” is made with simmering pork bones and served with chewy noodles, fresh herbs, and fragrant crispy shallots. It’s something I ate so often growing up that I took it for granted. It’s the perfect winter noodle soup. Well, honestly, it’s great all year long. 🙂

In the video, I used frozen Sanuki-style udon, which is the chewy udon, instead of banh canh. Feel free to do the same! Below, you’ll see a photo of the mushroom bouillon I like to use for my soups. It’s a game-changer in addition to chicken bouillon. I hope you give banh canh a try!

mushroom bouillon

Other Vietnamese recipes:

BO LUC LAC – POPULAR VIETNAMESE SHAKING BEEF STIR-FRY
Bun Thit Nuong – “grilled” lemongrass pork with vermicelli noodles
Cha Gio – crispy pork egg rolls served with nuoc mam

Banh Canh – Vietnamese “Udon”

Author: Phuong Le-Tran Cuisine:Vietnamese Courses:Main

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time:1 hour 30 minutesServings:10 servings

Description

Banh Canh – Vietnamese “Udon” is made with simmering pork bones and served with chewy noodles, fresh herbs, and fragrant crispy shallots.

Ingredients

• Banh Canh or frozen Sanuki-style udon (10 servings)
• 5 pound pork hock
• 2 pound pork spare ribs – bbq cut (optional)
• 24 cups (6qt) water
• 1 yellow onion, peeled & roasted
• 10 carrots, peeled, and sliced

Seasoning

• 2 tablespoon mushroom bouillon
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon sugar

To serve

• green onions, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• fried shallots

Instructions

1. Roast onion in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 380F to bring out the flavor.
2. Parboil bones/ribs to clean them: add bones to stock pot, add water to cover, and bring it a boil. Skim the residue that floats to the surface. Dump the bones into a colander and rinse/scrub each piece thoroughly. Clean the dirty pot immediately to use again. It will be hard to clean if you let it sit.
3. Add the bones and ribs back to the pot. Add 24 cups of water. Add all the seasonings and the onion. Bring to a boil and skim the surface to get rid of the impurities.
4. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium to allow it to gently simmer. Cover partially with a lid, so the broth doesn’t evaporate too quickly.
5. After an hour, add the carrots. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The soup will be ready after another 30 minutes or when the pork is tender to your liking.
6. Prepare udon or banh canh according to the package. Place the noodles immediately into individual bowls. 
7. Ladle broth, pork, and carrots over the noodles. Add cilantro, green onions, and shallots.  Serve with dipping sauce for the pork: fish sauce, lime juice, and thai chili peppers

Video

Keywords:banh canh, vietnamese food, vietnamese udon