Bún Mọc Instant Pot (Vietnamese Pork Paste Noodle Soup)
Author: Katie Le | Katie’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of pork bones OR 2 lbs of pork spare ribs, washed and parboil for 5 minutes on stove top, rinsed well
- 1 lb of pork paste, sold at Vietnamese deli shops or in the frozen section at Asian grocery stores; typically 1 lbs in a container
- 1/2 cup of dried wood ear mushroom, also known as black fungus mushroom (soaked in water for 10 minutes, rinsed well, coarsely chopped)
- 1 large onion
- 1 small daikon (optional to sweeten the broth, peeled and halved)
- about 1 tbsp size of rock sugar
- 6 tbsp of Quoc Viet Pork Soup Base
- 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper
- mushroom seasoning, sugar and salt to taste if needed
Others and Garnishes
- rice noodles (boiled to soften, drained, flush with cold water, and squeezed excess water)
- 1 roll of Vietnamese Ham or Cha Lua, sliced
- chopped onion and cilantro,
- lime wedges
- sliced fresh pepper
- Vietnamese coriander leaves (Rau Ram)
- shrimp paste (optional)
Directions
1. Add to inner pot: pork bones (or pork spare ribs), daikon, onion, Quoc Viet Pork Soup Base, rock sugar along with 6 cups of water. Use boiling water to speed up pressure building time. Close lid, make sure knob is on Sealing, select Manual/Pressure Cook, High Pressure, 20 minutes if you are using pork bones OR 6 minutes if you are using pork spare ribs, 15 minutes NPR.
2. Pour pork paste into a mixing bowl, add chopped wood ear mushrooms, and sprinkle evenly with about 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper. Mix ingredients well and set aside.
3. Once the cook time is up, quick release after 15 minutes of NPR. Open lid and cancel Keep Warm, switch to Saute mode, adjust to Normal heat. Remove and discard onion and daikon. You can also remove the pork bones if you are using or leave it in the pot. Add about 6 more cups of boiling water (total 12 cups of water). Bring broth to a boil again. Use a coffee spoon (tbsp size) to scoop and gently drop the pork paste into the boiling broth. Dip the spoon in a bowl of cold water in between to reduce stickiness. Once the pork paste float to the top, they are cooked! Taste the broth and season to your liking by more adding sugar, mushroom seasoning, or more soup base if needed.
4. To serve, add cooked rice noodles to a large bowl along with a few slices of Vietnamese Ham, then ladle boiling broth and pork paste on top. Serve with Vietnamese coriander, lime wedges and sliced pepper. Shrimp paste can be served on the side as well.
Enjoy!
Just made this today. Excellent recipe, even better than when what I got to eat in Saigon!
Couple suggestions:
To save time:
Start boiling the water once the 20min/6min PC time is over to time everything right. You just drop the meatballs into the 6 cups of boiling water on the stove and cook them beforehand. Then after 15 min NPR you just open the lid, switch to Saute, remove daikon + onion, and drop in the balls + 6 cups of boiling water into the Pot. Stir and serve.
For more crunchiness:
We had mushrooms leftover so we sauteed them: In a skillet over medium heat, pour some cooking oil, saute 3-4 cloves of minced garlic until almost brown, drop in some chopped yellow/white onions, and the rest of the chopped mushrooms. Saute for another 2 minutes. Set all of this aside and use it as extra garnish for extra crunchiness!
I love the convenience of the Instant Pot. Makes cooking these things fun.
I’m trying to find 3 lb size of Quoc Viet Cốt Súp Heo but it’s not that easy to find.
Thanks for the tweak! I did it and made it faster! Thank you for the overall yummy recipe mine came out a tad on the salty side so next time I’ll try reducing it to 5tbsp of the soup base instead.
If it comes out salty dilute it with a cup of water. That would help and won’t “water down” the broth much.
What changes would you make for the 8 qt IP?
Can you use Knorr Chicken Flavored Broth Mix instead of QV Pork Soup Base? How much?
You can but I don’t know how much exactly since I don’t use it. Season slowly 1 tbsp at a time and see.
what can i substitute for beef shank?
Sorry wrong recipe
The recipe is for a 6 qt IP but I have an 8 qt. Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe?
No, no adjustments needed. 🤗
Do you have to parboil the bones also?
Hi Mindy, You should parboil the pork bones to get clear broth. It’s under the list of ingredients.