Canh bí is another absolutely essential Vietnamese family meal soup. Similar to canh rau đay (Egyptian spinach soup) or canh sườn heo (pork sparerib soup), no home-cooked meal is complete without some soup to bring it all together.
For me, canh bí really reminds me of home because it’s my mom’s favorite soup. I credit my love of food and my ability to cook to my mom because, as a kid, whenever she cooked, I would always hover, ask her how to make things and be involved. Regardless of how annoyed she was, she’d find something to let me do. That said, though, my mom only cooked once or twice a week because she was always busy working.
So instead, what she would do is prep all the ingredients needed to cook things so that whenever we’d get hungry, we could quickly put a meal together. Because of that, I’ve been cooking for as long as I can remember.
Wintermelon Soup / Canh Bí
4
servings15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
3 quarts Water
1 small Winter Melon
1 small Shallot
1/3 cup Dried Shrimp
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
1/2 tbsp MSG
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Oil
Salt and pepper
- Shrimp meatball
1 lb Shrimp
1 tsp Fish Sauce
Salt and Pepper
- Garnishes:
Cilantro
Green onion
Black pepper
Directions
- Rehydrate dried shrimp in warm water for ten minutes. Then to a small stock pot, sauté minced shallots in oil until fragrant. Add dried shrimp and sauté for another minute
- Add water, bring up to a boil, and skim off the impurities
- Cut wintermelon into strips or quarters and add to the pot
- Season with fish sauce, MSG, sugar, salt and pepper to taste
- Combine minced shrimp with fish sauce, salt, and pepper, form loose balls with a spoon, and add to the pot. When they float, they’re done cooking
- Serve in a soup bowl, garnish with cilantro, green onions and black pepper
Recipe Video
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