Hu Tieu My Tho (Vietnamese Pork & Seafood Noodle Soup)

Hu Tieu My Tho aka Vietnamese Pork & Seafood Noodle Soup is a dish I loved growing up. Made with a crystal clear broth and loaded with a ton of toppings, this noodle soup is something you can eat all year round. Included in this blog post are tips on how to get that amazing broth and how to customize your bowl of noodles to your tastes.

When you think spring and summer, you probably don’t think noodle soup, but in Vietnamese culture, we eat it all year round. The one noodle soup I love having in warmer months is Hu Tieu My Tho! Similar to banh canh cua and mi quang, hu tieu is not as well known as other Vietnamese noodle soups, but I would argue it’s just as yummy. This particular noodle soup is also perfect for hot weather because it has a light broth. The version I made is filled with only seafood, but I added notes below in case you wanted to include meat as well.

My experience with Hu Tieu

Hu Tieu is a category of noodles soups in Vietnamese cuisine. The coolest thing about it is it can be served in 2 preparations: nuoc (with broth) or kho (no broth). Hu Tieu Kho is the dry version, but this recipe is the broth version. It has a sweet broth made from pork bones, onion, daikon, and dried shrimp. It is then eaten with a variety of noodles and toppings. The toppings can vary a lot. I’ve had it with ground pork, seafood, pork liver, quail eggs, bbq pork (char siu), and seafood. You can use any combination of these toppings. I chose to use only seafood and eggs for my recipe because I wanted to create a seafood version of this dish.

Some deets about key ingredients

Broth

• Pork – You can use either pork chops or pork shoulder. I chose to use pork chops because that’s what was available. Make sure to use pork with bone as that creates the richest broth.
• Dried shrimp – If you can’t find dried shrimp, use 1/4 pound of raw shrimp.
• Daikon – Daikon is essentially an Asian radish, so you can substitute with any kind of radish.
• Chicken broth – Can be substituted with vegetable broth.

The Noodles

In terms of the noodles, traditional Hu Tieu My Tho is eaten with tapioca noodles. They are clear and chewier than normal noodles. However, this is a specialty ingredient, meaning it can be hard to find. If you can’t find tapioca noodles, substitute with any kind of egg or rice noodle you can find. It is actually pretty common to change up the noodles. When you go to Hu Tieu restaurants, the waiter will often give you a choice between rice and egg noodles, and you choose the one you want. So choose whichever noodle you want when you make this recipe!

Seafood & meat toppings

As I mentioned above, you can use a variety of toppings for Hu Tieu. I personally chose seafood and eggs because I am trying to eat less meat. Other toppings you can include are ground pork, pork liver, and bbq pork. You can also use the pork from the broth as a topping. To use the pork from the broth, take out a few pieces after simmering for 30-40 minutes, cut it up, and set it aside. Make sure to leave at least half of it in the broth to continue cooking.

Herb toppings

Yes this noodle soup has a lot of toppings, but it wouldn’t be a Vietnamese noodle soup without herb toppings. I use a combination of green onion, cilantro, and chives. The green onion and cilantro are not essential in my opinion, but it’s nice to have to balance out the other flavors. The one I think is more important is the chives. Chinese chives are what is served in this dish, but you can totally use regular chives.

Making my version of Hu Tieu My Tho

First, soak the fried shrimp in water for 10 minutes. Next make the broth! Add pork to a large soup pot and cover with water until it just covers the pork. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Place the pork on a plate and pour out the water. Rinse the pot and add the pork back to the pot. Cover with fresh water until it just covers the pork. Add the onions, dried shrimp, and daikon. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. While the broth is cooking, cook your tapioca noodles and prepare your toppings. Mince the cilantro and green onions. Boil your eggs. Set it all aside.

Tip #1: The key to a clear broth is not to boil the broth too much. Keep the heat on low when you simmer the broth.

After 2 hours, add the chicken broth, salt and sugar. Taste the broth for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland. The broth should be done at this point. The last step is to cook your seafood toppings – shrimp, squid, octopus, fish balls, and imitation crab. Bring the broth to a boil. Using a ladle or any large spoon, scoop spoonfuls of each topping and hold them under the boiling broth until they are cooked through. Once cooked, set them aside in a bowl. Repeat this process until all your seafood is cooked. The reason we don’t leave the toppings in the broth is because we don’t want them to overcook. Now you can prepare your noodle bowls! Add some of the tapioca noodles to a bowl. Top with the cooked seafood, bean sprouts, chives, cilantro, green onions, boiled eggs, and fried shallots.

Tip #2: Noodle soup tastes better the next day. So if you have time, make the broth the night before and let it sit over night. The flavor from the pork and aromatics will permeate your broth while it sits, making it super flavorful.

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