Street food lurks on every corner

 

Bún riêu ốc (crab soup with rice vermicelli and snails) is a dish I had passed up a couple of times walking around the city.  At points on this trip I could not believe how many snails I had ingested.  I have had more in Vietnam than all the times I was in France.  Snails are everywhere and must grow like mad.  I still remember eating at a restaurant in Hanoi where the snails had been finely diced then combined with a bit of mushroom and garlic, wrapped in a wonton wrapper and deep fried, I could have been fooled to believe that these were morels or some expensive wild mushrooms instead of diced river snails.  The toughness of the snails is what puts many people off, but texture is such a part of finding the balance in Vietnamese cooking.  Well this soup is certainly a balance of flavors.  The soup at its base is made up of whole smashed fresh water crabs that are then strained to create the stock.  Tomato and annatto seed are added for color and with the addition of vermicelli noodles and congealed pigs blood you have you soup, topped with some lightly boiled snails.  There are the accompaniments of vegetables chili and lime to mix and match to your discretion.  For a dollar fifty it was a great snack.  There are just some things that you will never see on a Vietnamese menu in the states.  This is one.