Vietnamese Seaweed Soup – Canh Rong Bien

Canh rong bien (seaweed soup) is a home-style soup that my mom cooks often when I was a child and many times while I was pregnant when my body stopped digesting fish, meat, and dairy products. She would cook this without the minced pork while I was pregnant for me.

Ingredients: (to be edited in the future)

1 package of dried seaweed (1.5 oz of koi fish brand)
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1 bunch of scallion finely chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup of ground pork
1/2 cup of peeled headless shrimp
1 can of chicken broth or 1 Tbsp chicken powder/bouillon
1 liter water
1 Tbsp fish sauce
salt to taste
sugar to taste
black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil

Ingredients edited after watching my mom cook this.

Direction:

1. Prep dried seaweed by soaking and rinsing it in cold water. Pour seaweed through a colander with medium holes. Repeat this at least three times to remove any sand that may be in the seaweed package.

2. Prep pork and shrimp paste. Smash the shrimp and fold it into the ground pork. Season with salt, minced garlic, black pepper, and half of finely chopped scallion.

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3. In a 6 quart pot, sizzle 1 Tbsp of oil. Sear the shrimp and port paste.

4. Pour in (amount) of water and one can of chicken broth into the pot and bring it to a boil. Cook on medium, season with salt, sugar, and 1 tbsp of fish sauce to taste for about 10 minutes.