Canh Sườn Heo – Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup

Have you ever tried Canh Sườn Heo – Vietnamese pork rib soup? The soup is brimming with potatoes, carrots, and butternut squash. Each spoonful is silky, luscious, and truly unforgettable. Sweet potatoes, carrots, and butternut squash melt together with tender pork ribs, all kissed by a gentle hint of green onion for a harmonious finish.

What is Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup?

Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup, or Canh Sườn Heo, is an umami, clear broth made by simmering pork spare ribs with various vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, squash, cauliflower, and cabbage.

Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup is a staple in Vietnamese meals, largely because it’s versatile and not bound to a single, rigid recipe; you can adjust the ingredients—such as the ratio of potatoes, carrots, various types of squash, or broccoli—to suit personal taste.

Moreover, Vietnamese Pork Spare Rib Soup pairs perfectly with savory main dishes served with rice, such as caramelized pork, braised shrimp, or roasted chicken.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

Pork spare ribs: provide umami and tender meat for the broth. Supermarkets commonly provide slab ribs, so you have to chop them to whatever size you want. I picked up these pork ribs at Costco, and they came in thin strips already, so I just cut between the bones to make small pieces.

If you are using larger ribs or thicker cuts, increase the cooking time until they’re tender before adding the vegetables.

Carrots: add a subtle sweetness when cooked in the broth. You can substitute Napa cabbage, which is more delicate and cooks faster than regular cabbage.

Potatoes: help balance the soup’s flavor, complementing the savory, meaty broth with their tender texture and rich, creamy taste; for a different experience, you can also try sweet potatoes or taro.

Butternut squash: In addition to adding color to the soup, the pumpkin makes the broth sweeter and more aromatic; you can substitute cauliflower.

Shallot, Green onions/ scallion: helps the ribs absorb the seasoning faster and become more aromatic, while the scallions give the soup a mild spiciness and a more appealing look. You can substitute cilantro for the green onion.

Ginger: helps eliminate the meat’s unpleasant odor. Since the ribs are mostly frozen, add only a specific amount; too much will overpower the other flavors.

Seasoning: Black pepper, fish sauce, MSG, or bouillon powder are indispensable seasonings in Vietnamese cuisine, helping to enhance the flavor of the dishes.

How to make Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup?

Making Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup is very simple and consists of three steps: preparing the vegetables and pork ribs, marinating the ribs, and cooking.

Prepare the vegetables and pork ribs

Prepare the vegetables by peeling and slicing the potato, carrots, and butternut squash into 1×1-inch pieces. Chop the shallot and green onions into pieces and set aside.

Marinate the pork spare ribs

In American grocery stores, ribs are often sold in large slabs intended for the barbecue grill. You can take the ribs home, cut between the bones, then use a large knife to hack them into bite-size pieces.

Be careful of those fingers! If a butcher is available, you can ask the butcher to cut the spare ribs into 1×1 inch pieces for you. They will most likely oblige if asked nicely.

At Asian grocery stores, you will often find pork ribs as strings of ribs, rather than large slabs. The strings of ribs are the large slabs, just cut perpendicularly to the bones and connected by the meat. This way, you can separate the ribs easily with a knife at home without the risk of losing a body part.

First, wash the pork ribs and pat dry with paper towels, or rinse them clean, and keep in mind you’ll need to skim a bit more during cooking. Marinate with MSG, salt, black pepper, fish sauce, and minced shallot. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Make the broth

Pour the water and crushed ginger into the pot, then bring to a boil. Add the marinated pork spare ribs, then remove impurities before the broth forms. Simmer the pork ribs for 10 minutes.

This is a traditional method to ensure a clean and clear broth. However, with soups, you can easily skim off impurities as they clump together and float to the top. For that reason, I’m skipping the parboiling step here. This makes the recipe easier and quicker.

I still wash the bones thoroughly before using them in a dish. Sometimes I scrub them down with a bit of coarse salt to remove any surface yuckiness, then rinse them. This is entirely optional but highly recommended.

Add the vegetables

The order in which you add vegetables to the pork rib soup is important; since carrots generally take longer to cook than potatoes and squash, add the carrots first and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the potatoes and squash and cook for another 5 minutes.

Finally, season with salt, MSG, pepper, and fish sauce, then turn off the heat.

Assemble

Ladle the pork rib soup into a bowl and garnish with chopped scallions.

Frequently Asked Questions