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Cháo sườn
Cháo sườn: Hanoi's velvety ground-rice porridge with pork rib broth, fried dough and pork floss
VietnameseOn Hanoi street corners, cháo sườn sellers ladle out this porridge from first light, and children eat it before school with a heap of crisp quẩy (fried dough) and fluffy pork floss on top. Unlike whole-grain congee, the rice is ground first, so it cooks into a pale, silky cream flavoured by a long-simmered pork rib broth. The usual mistake is adding the ground rice to boiling broth all at once, which makes stubborn lumps; whisk it into a slurry first. Chef's tip: toast the rice in a dry pan until it smells like popcorn before you grind it, which gives the porridge its gentle nutty depth.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the broth
- 1 ⅓ lb pork spare ribscut into 4 cm pieces
- 2.5 litres water
- 3 shallotspeeled
- 1 tsp salt
For the porridge
- 5 ½ oz jasmine rice
- 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
To serve
- 2 Vietnamese fried dough sticks (quẩy)cut into thin slices
- 1 oz pork floss
- 2 spring onionsfinely sliced
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp crisp fried shallots (optional)
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Put 1 ⅓ lb pork spare ribs in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse the ribs to wash off the scum.
5 minStep 3: While the broth simmers, toast 5 ½ oz jasmine rice in a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat for 6–8 minutes, shaking often, until pale golden and fragrant. Cool, then grind to a coarse powder in a spice grinder or blender.
8 minStep 4: Lift out the ribs and keep them warm. Measure the broth; you need about 1.6 litres.
Step 5: Whisk the ground rice with 300 ml of the cooled broth until smooth. Bring the rest of the broth to the boil, then pour in the slurry in a thin stream, whisking all the time.
Step 6: Simmer over a low heat for 25–30 minutes, stirring often, until the porridge is smooth, thick and creamy with no gritty taste. Add a little hot water if it becomes stiff.
30 minStep 7: Season with 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce and 1 tsp sugar, and return the ribs for 3 minutes to heat through until piping hot.
3 minStep 8: Ladle into bowls with a few ribs each, then pile on 2 Vietnamese fried dough sticks (quẩy), 1 oz pork floss, 2 spring onions, ½ tsp ground black pepper and 2 tbsp crisp fried shallots. Eat at once while the dough is still crisp.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
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Good to know
- How long does cháo sườn take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of jasmine rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
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