Vietnamese Asparagus Crab Soup - Sup Mang Cua

A Vietnamese soup normally served at dinner parties or special events.

For a 5-quart stock pot:

1 can of frozen lump crab meat

3 cans of the large chicken broth

1 cup water

1 can baby corn

1 small bunch of fresh asparagus

2 or 3 eggs

3 tablespoons tapioca starch (bot nang), dissolve in water

Salt, pepper, fish sauce

1) Boil the chicken broth on medium heat, or you can use fresh cooked broth as well (works even better)

2) Wash asparagus and remove the hard bottoms. Drain and wash baby corn. Slice corn and asparagus into bite-sized chunks

3) Beat 2 or 3 eggs, depending on how many egg drops you want in your soup. Set aside for use in last step

4) Add corn and asparagus to the pot

5) Dissolve about 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch (bot nang) to 1/2 cup of cold water. Add the mixture to the pot and stir rapidly, until you see the soup becoming thick. You can add an additional tablespoons of tapioca if you like your soup extra thick, but remember after it cools the soup will thicken more than what it is currently

6) When your soup pot starts boiling, add in the crab and start stirring the ingredients

7) Slowly pour the bowl of scrambled eggs into the pot, while stirring rapidly in large strokes to create long egg strands

8)When the eggs are all in, turn the heat down to medium to simmer for 10 minutes

9) Add a pinch of salt and about 3 tablespoons of fish sauce to your desiring and taste the asparagus and corn to see if they have by now softened enough to your liking