NUTRITION INFORMATION – HANOIAN STREET FOOD AND LOCAL SPECIALITIES
Another classic in the Hanoian cuisine are Bún Riêu Cua and Bún Ốc.
Most common you will find both dishes served in the same food stall or restaurant, both come with a similar tomato based broth, with a slight sour taste that is both fresh and light.
There are two main varations, either served as Bún Riêu Cua with fresh-water crabs or as Bún Ốc with fresh-water snails. Crabs and snails are actually quite similar in terms of calories and macronutrients. They are both a good and inexpensive source of protein, low in fat and contain almost no carbs.
The crabs are first shredded raw and after that the meat is boiled together with the shells. Due to that process the dish will be high in calcium which is emitted from the shells. On the other hand snails are naturally high in iron. So both variations are actually rich in micronutrients. Even though crabs and snails are similar in terms of calories and macronutrients, Bún Ốc will be slighty higher in calories and fat since in most common the snails are pan fried after cooking.
Besides your main choice of having crabs or snails, there is a big selections of additional ingredients offered to be added to your dish.
Very often a small portion of tofu is added, which would be a good source of protein, but unfortunately the tofu is fried as well, so it will also be high in fat.
Also available are some meaty options, that can be short boiled lean beef (thịt bò tái) or lean pork sausage (giò lụa). Even though the sausage is made from lean pork it will be a bit higher in fat and calories compared to the beef option.
And of course the dish itself will always be high in carbs, offering a decent amount of noodles per serving, but more unfortunate also coming from a fair amount of pure sugar added to the broth for seasoning. Unfortunately this goes for most local noodle dishes served with broth.
I hope the information in the Hanoian Street Food and Local Specialties series remains being helpful for you, please contact me any time if you have any further questions.