A brown and white ceramic bowl on a white marble background. The bowl contains white rice vermicelli and broth, topped with pieces of golden fried tofu, wedges of tomato, cooked water snails without shell, chopped purple perilla leaves, and some morning glory stems.

Mai

This recipe is a part of our our mini series: Vietnamese dishes that might put foreigners into a coma.

This is a noodle soup dish originating from Hà Nội. I’ll be honest, this one has less of a shock factor than our previous 2 recipes, but it still involves snails- an ingredient that is quite uncommon for many people.

Unlike French escargots, those eaten in Vietnam are water snails rather than land-based. They are chewier than land snails, providing a more interesting textural experience. This dish uses fresh water snails, which are also often eaten simply boiled and dipped in a gingery fish sauce. Sea snails are also eaten in Vietnam, though they tend to be grilled or cooked in heavier sauces.

There are several water snail species of varying tastes and sizes. Vendors specializing in this dish usually offer the choice between 2 types of snails or a mix of both: a larger variety like ốc nhồi and a smaller one like ốc vặn. I usually like a mix of both because I prefer the taste of the smaller ones but it’s nice to have some larger ones for the texture & mouthfeel. Outside of Vietnam, you will most likely only find larger snails sold frozen without shell.

Aside from the snails, the other main ingredients are bún noodles, tomatoes, tía tô- purple perilla leaves, and tofu- which is fried before added to the soup. The perilla leaves add a very distinct flavor that once you have tasted, you would find the dish incomplete without it. You will find them in another delicious northern snail dish called Ốc chuối đậu, as well as one of my favorite soups that also contains tomatoes and fried tofu called Canh cà bung- check out our recipe for that here.

The broth is delicate- it can either be made with the liquid from cooking the snails, or with pork bones for more flavor. It is savory and slightly tangy- with acidity coming from the tomatoes and rice vinegar. If you can find giấm bỗng- a specialty northern rice vinegar made from glutinous rice, that will be ideal- but a regular rice vinegar will work fine.

Like with many Vietnamese dishes, this noodle soup is a combination of many textures and flavors, and it’s amongst my favorite noodle soups.

A bowl containing white rice vermicelli and broth, topped with pieces of golden fried tofu, wedges of tomato, cooked water snails without shell, chopped purple perilla leaves, and some morning glory stems.

INGREDIENTS FOR BÚN ỐC

Snail meat – Thịt ốc: Vendors specializing in this dish usually offer the choice between 2 types of snails or a mix of both: a larger variety like ốc nhồi and a smaller one like ốc vặn. I usually like a mix of both because I prefer the taste of the smaller ones but it’s nice to have some larger ones for the texture & mouthfeel. Outside of Vietnam, you will most likely only find larger snails sold frozen without shell.
Pork bones – Xương heo: Traditionally, the broth be made with the liquid from cooking the snails, or with pork bones for more flavor. However, when you use frozen snails, you do not want to cook them to extract broth, since that would make them too tough, so bones are a necessity for broth.
Rice vermicelli – Bún noodles
Tomato – Cà chua
Tofu – Đậu phụ/đậu hũ: For this recipe, we want to use firm tofu.
Purple perilla – Tía tô: Perilla leaves are commonly used in Japanese and Korean cuisines as well. In Vietnam, purple perilla is the most common and green perilla is seldom used. The name tía tô itself means purple. They add a very distinct flavor that once you have tasted, you would find the dish incomplete without.
Water spinach – Rau muống: This dish is sometimes served with rau muống stems that have been split into thin curly ribbons. They are either eaten raw or poached. This is optional, but if you can find pre-split rau muống stems at your local Asian grocery store, I recommend it.
Green onion – Hành lá
Shallot – Hành tím/hành khô
Fish sauce – Nước mắm: arguably the most important seasoning sauce in Vietnamese cuisine. Made from fermented anchovies, it is salty and incredibly umami. Non-vegan Vietnamese recipes without fish sauce are very rare. The best nước mắm comes from Phú Quốc or surrounding islands off the coast- Southwest of mainland Vietnam. Our favorite brand available outside of Vietnam is Red Boat (U.S.).
Ground black pepper – Tiêu đen xay
Turmeric powder – Bột nghệ
Vegetable oil – Dầu thực vật
Salt – Muối
Bird’s eye chili – Ớt hiểm
Rice vinegar – Dấm gạo: If you can find giấm bỗng- a specialty northern rice vinegar made from glutinous rice, that will be ideal- but a regular rice vinegar will work fine.

DIRECTIONS FOR BÚN ỐC

If using frozen snails, place in the fridge the night before to defrost.
Optional: soak bones in a bowl of water, cover and place in the fridge over night or for a few hours before cooking. This helps extract impurities.
Add pork bones to a pot, along with enough water to submerge the bones and some salt.
Bring to boil on medium high, let boil for 3-5 minutes to extract impurities. Drain and rinse bones under running water.
Add the bones to a large pot, along with the water from the Broth section, the peeled shallots, and salt. Bring to boil on medium high, then reduce heat to low.
Skim off any scum that rises to the surface, then partially cover and let simmer for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Rinse defrosted snails and add to a bowl, along with the fish sauce, ground black pepper, and turmeric powder. Mix well to combine and set aside.
Cut tomatoes into wedges- about 6-8 wedges per tomato depending on the size. Remove the core.
Chop the green onions, separating the green and white parts.
Thinly slice shallot.
Rinse, then remove perilla leaves from stems. Layer up 10-15 leaves at a time, then slice into thin ribbons.
If using pre-sliced rau muống stems, rinse. If doing it yourself, rinse, remove leaves, then cut stems vertically into thin strips.
Cut off the stems, remove seeds, the mince bird’s eye chilies (if using).
Pat dry, then cut tofu into ~3cm cubes.
Cook bún noodles according to page instructions, strain, rinse under cold water, strain again, then set aside.
Heat a frying pan on medium and add a ~1cm layer of vegetable oil.
Once the oil bubbles around a wooden chopstick or spatula, add in tofu pieces in a single layer, with the pieces not touching one another.
Fry tofu until golden on the bottom, then flip and fry on the other side. Once done, remove to a plate and set aside.
Pour out most of the oil from the frying pan except ~1 tbsp.
Add in the white part of green onions and sliced shallot. Sweat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add in the snails and tomato wedges. Sauté for 3 minutes, then remove from heat.
Remove the shallots from the pot of broth, then pour in the snails and tomato mixture.
Gradually add in rice vinegar to taste.
Bring the broth to boil on medium high, then add in the tofu and let cook for 2 minutes.
Season to taste with fish sauce and reduce heat to medium low.
To serve:
– Add a serving of bún noodles to a sieve, dip into the pot of broth, and using chopsticks to loosen noodles, before adding them to a bowl. Repeat with remaining servings. This warms up the noodles and prevent them from cooling down your broth once assembled.
– Using chopsticks and a ladle, pick out the tofu, tomato wedges, and snails from the pot and divide them between the bowls.
– Add some tía tô and rau muống stems (if using) to each bowl.
– Ladle the broth into each bowl.
– Top with chopped green onion greens and minced chili.

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