Snail Noodle Soup

Marinate the pork leg with salt, sugar, and fish sauce for 30 minutes. Clean the snails with salt, rinse until slime‑free, and set aside. Prepare tamarind water, ginger juice, slice the onion and shallots, fry the shallots until golden, and peel, seed, and mince the tomatoes.

Food photography of Snail Noodle Soup, styled as an authentic Vietnamese dish.

Prep | Cook Time:

2 hr 30 min

Snail Noodle Soup delivers a bold, traditional bowl with layers of tang, savory pork richness, and the distinctive bite of snails. VV FOODS strengthens the broth so the many ingredients come together in a soup that feels lively, rustic, and unmistakably Vietnamese.

Use:

Chicken Pho Ga Base

Ingredients

1 lb snails (ốc)
3 lbs pork leg (giò heo), upper meaty part
½ box chicken stock VV FOODS (cốt gà VV FOODS)
1 lb Vietnamese sausage (chả lụa)
1 packet tamarind (me vắt)
1 can (8 oz) tomato paste (cà chua xay)
2 ripe red tomatoes
1 white onion (hành tây)
1 piece ginger
2–3 garlic cloves, minced (hành tỏi)
Shrimp paste (mắm tôm), to taste
Salt and sugar, for seasoning
Cooking oil
5 shallots (hành ta), thinly sliced
2 small bundles rice vermicelli (bún nhỏ sợi)
Scallions (hành lá), chopped
Water spinach (rau muống), split
Banana blossom (rau hoa chuối)
Rice paddy herb (rau kinh giới)
Fresh fish sauce (nước mắm nguyên chất), for serving
Sliced chili (ớt xắt lát), for serving
Sliced lemon (chanh xắt lát), for serving

Preperation

Marinate the pork leg with salt, sugar, and fish sauce for 30 minutes. Clean the snails with salt, rinse until slime‑free, and set aside. Prepare tamarind water, ginger juice, slice the onion and shallots, fry the shallots until golden, and peel, seed, and mince the tomatoes.

Instructions

Bring 1 gallon of cold water to a boil, add the marinated pork leg and simmer until tender; remove, discard bone, and slice the meat into large pieces. Reserve the broth and add cold water if needed to reach the desired volume.
Clean the snails: rub with salt, rinse until slime‑free. In a hot pan, sauté minced garlic in oil until fragrant, add the snails, stir‑fry, then season with fish sauce, sugar, and chicken stock; transfer the snails to the boiling broth and cook briefly, then remove snails to a bowl.
Make tamarind water: dissolve ¼ packet tamarind in boiling water, stir, then strain to extract liquid. Extract ginger juice by crushing ginger and squeezing out the liquid.
Prepare aromatics: thinly slice the white onion; thinly slice 5 shallots and fry until golden, then drain. Blanch tomatoes, peel, seed, and mince.
In the same pan, heat oil, sauté minced shallot, add minced tomatoes and tomato paste, stir‑fry, add a little minced chili, then pour the mixture into the broth and bring to a boil.
Add ginger juice, tamarind water, shrimp paste, and chicken stock to the broth; season to taste, balancing sour, spicy, and slightly strong flavors.
Slice the Vietnamese sausage into pieces.
To serve, place rice vermicelli in a bowl, top with snails, sausage, and sliced pork. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles to cover. Garnish with chopped scallions, fried shallots, and raw white onion slices.
Serve with side plates of water spinach, banana blossom, rice paddy herb, pure fish sauce, sliced chili, and lemon wedges (optional: sauté shrimp paste with fried garlic oil for extra aroma).