Canh Bí Đỏ Tôm, Vietnamese Kabocha, and Shrimp Soup are such comforting and delicious Canh. I usually make it with tender pork riblets, but I made a quicker version making a broth with shrimp shells. For the shrimp balls, I added a few fresh shiitake mushrooms in the fridge and added it to the shrimp balls, but it’s optional.
If you’ve never tasted Kabocha squash, it’s like a cross between pumpkin and sweet potato. So good! I love the bouncy texture of the shrimp and the delicate and sweet kabocha squash in every bite. The natural sweetness it adds to the canh is super comforting and amazing and pairs so well with my smoked riblets from my last reel and bowls of steamed rice. This soup works well by itself or with other savory dishes as well.
Ingredients:8 cups Shrimp Broth2 pounds kabocha squash, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces1 pound shrimp balls3 green onions, finely choppedBlack pepper
Shrimp Broth Ingredients:8 cups of water1 shallot, peeled1 slice of gingerShrimp shells1 tablespoon @khomarket dried shrimp2 teaspoons salt, more or less to taste1 teaspoon sugar1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
Shrimp Ball Ingredients:12 ounces shrimp, finely chopped4 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped1 tablespoon cornstarch1 tablespoon fish sauce1 teaspoon sugar½ teaspoon pepper
Steps:
Prepare Shrimp Balls - Aggressively chop shrimp and shiitake mushrooms finely with a cleaver or a large chef knife on a cutting board until the shrimp turns into a sticky paste. Add fish sauce, black pepper, sugar, and corn starch to the shrimp paste and mix well. Form small shrimp balls and set aside.
Make Shrimp Broth - Add all the shrimp broth ingredients in a pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. After simmering the broth for 30 minutes, remove the shallot, ginger, and shrimp shells from the broth. Season to taste.
Make Canh - Bring the shrimp broth to a boil. Add kabocha squash and shrimp balls into the broth and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the kabocha squash is soft and tender. Garnish with chopped green onions.
Tips:
- Leaving skin on the kabocha squash is totally fine. It’s edible!
- I added shiitake mushrooms because I had it available. You can leave it out and/or use your favorite ground protein with the shrimp.
- You can use simmer pork riblets and make a pork broth if you don’t want to use shrimp.
- I love paring this canh with a savory and/or salty protein dish and bowls of steamed rice.