Lately, I have been cooking a lot of Vietnamese home-style soups, and honestly, they never get old. These soups are deeply comforting, incredibly cozy, and always feel nourishing in a way that few other dishes do. They are usually packed with nutrients, come together without much fuss, and pair perfectly with a simple family meal of rice and a few side dishes. Of all of them, canh rau day is my all-time favorite. Growing up, my mom most often made this soup with shrimp, a classic, traditional approach, but today I want to show you another version with ground pork that is just as comforting and even easier to make. This soup comes together in about half an hour and tastes like pure nostalgia in a bowl. If you grew up eating canh rau day, you already know how soothing and familiar it feels. And if this is your first time, there is a very good chance it will become one of your new favorites.
Rau đay is a leafy green that plays a starring role in this soup. Depending on where you are in the world, it goes by many different names. You might hear it called Egyptian spinach, jute leaves, molokhia, or saluyot. Despite its associations with cuisines from the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, rau đay has found a natural home in Vietnamese cooking.
Like many ingredients in Vietnamese cuisine, rau day likely traveled through trade routes and cultural exchange long before modern borders and nation-states. Ingredients moved freely across regions through trade and migration. Egyptian spinach is believed to have originated in Africa and the Middle East, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. From there, it spread eastward along major trade routes linking Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
By the time maritime trade expanded across the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, ingredients like rau day were already traveling with merchants, settlers, and farmers. Vietnam’s tropical climate proved a perfect match. Rau day thrives in warm, humid conditions, grows quickly, and requires little maintenance, making it ideal for backyard gardens and small family farms. Over time, rau đay became less of an imported ingredient and more of a local staple. In rural Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta and central regions, it was common for families to grow rau day right outside their homes. Because it grows fast and can be harvested repeatedly, it has become a reliable vegetable for everyday cooking rather than something reserved for special occasions.
Visually, rau day has soft, oval-shaped leaves with slender stems. Once cooked, the leaves break down easily and release a natural mucilage, giving the soup its signature slightly viscous texture. One key step that should never be skipped is massaging the leaves after washing and chopping them. This helps release the sticky enzymes that give a good bowl of canh rau đay its iconic mouthfeel. This texture is not slimy in a bad way. Instead, it is silky, soothing, and incredibly comforting, especially when paired with hot rice, almost like a natural cornstarch slurry. Flavor-wise, rau day is very mild and slightly grassy. It does not overpower the soup, which makes it the perfect vehicle for savory broth and pork.
Finely chop the green onions, separating the whites from the greens. The white parts will be cooked into the soup, while the green parts are reserved for garnish. If you don’t mince garlic in bulk as I do, now is the perfect time to mince a few cloves, too.
For the rau day, rinse it thoroughly under cold water to remove any dirt or debris. Using a knife, remove the woody stem ends. The thicker stems are very fibrous, and leaving them attached will result in a soup that is not very pleasant to eat. Chop the leaves and tender stems, place them in a bowl, and massage them with your hands until they feel slightly slippery. Set aside.
In a pot over medium-high heat, add a splash of oil. Sauté the white parts of the green onions with the minced garlic for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the ground pork, then break up any large clumps with a wooden spatula. Season lightly with salt and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the pork begins to develop flavor.
Pour in about three quarts of water. Season with chicken bouillon and a small amount of sugar. Bring the soup up to a boil and skim off any impurities that rise to the surface. Add the prepared rau day into the pot, mix well, and cover. Let it simmer for about five minutes so everything can come together. Taste and adjust the seasoning with fish sauce, salt, and black pepper.
Serve the soup directly over a bowl of hot rice, or alongside rice as part of a larger family meal. Garnish with the reserved green onions and fresh ground black pepper. Enjoy!
This post is part of a collaboration with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). All opinions…
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