Sup mang tay cua (asparagus crab soup)

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

2 1/2 qt Water
2 lb Pork bones
2 ts Salt
1 tb Fish sauce (nuoc mam)
1 ts Vegetable oil
1 Clove garlic chopped
2 Shallots or
2 Scallions chopped white -part
1/2 lb Crab meat fresh frozen -or canned
1/4 ts Freshly ground black pepper
2 ts Cornstarch dissolved in
2 tb Water
1 Egg
1 cn (15 ounces) white -asparagus undrained
1/4 c Chopped fresh coriander -(Chinese parsley)
1/4 c Chopped scallion greens

Instructions:

The French introduced asparagus to the Vietnamese who promptly incorporated this classic vegetable into their cuisine. The Vietnamese word for asparagus is "Western bamboo due to its

resemblance to bamboo shoots. asparagus is universally popular

throughout Vietnam, this light, tasty dish will delight your family

as well.

Bring water to a boil and put the pork bones in. Remove the scum, then

cover and continue to boil the bones for 1 hour. Remove the bones

from the stock and discard. Add the salt and the fish sauce to the

stock.

Heat the oil and add the chopped garlic and shallots; add the crab

meat and fry for 5 minutes over high heat. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon

of black pepper, stirring constantly, then add the crab meat mixture

to the soup and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch-and-water

mixture and stir for a few minutes.

Break the egg open and drop it into the actively boiling soup while

stirring. Cook, still stirring, for about 2 minutes, then drop in the

asparagus, along with the liquid from the can and the rest of the

black pepper. Continue to cook until the asparagus is heated through.

Sprinkle the coriander and scallion green over the soup before

serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

From The Classic Cuisine of Vietnam" Bach Ngo and Gloria Zimmerman Barron's 1979. Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; May 24 1993.