One of my favorite dish to make ! My husband can have this a few times a week. Even though it's a sour fish soup, you can substitute the fish with prawn and it will work just as well.
There are a few ways to make it, the Southern and Northern style. I found the Southern style a bit more on the sweet side. My version is Northern with my own twist :-)
So here's the recipe:
- 8 cups of chicken broth (home made, can or carton) or water if you don't have it.
- 3-4 fish fillet (any type of fish, you can add a whole fish or use fish head, just be careful of those sharp bones when consume) or you can sub. with 1 1/2 lb of prawns
- 1/2 cup of fresh pineapples, diced, more less to your liking (canned or frozen pineapple is ok too)
- 1 cup of bean sprouts (more less to your liking)
- 3-4 stalks of taro stems, peeled and sliced diagonally
- 3 med. tomatoes, quartered
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 stalk of lemon grass, smashed
- 1 small chunk of rock sugar or 1/2 table spoon of cane sugar
- 1 of 1 inch square of frozen tamarind pulp or 1/2 table spoon of tamarind powder
- fish sauce
*Additional ingredients: You can add any of the below ingredients to this soup, more less to your liking, adjust soup broth (add more water) if soup is too thick.
- 1/4 cup baby clams
- 1/4 cup baby shrimps
- 1 tofu cut into small chunks
Flavoring herbs (this is what gives canh chua the flavor):
Thinly slice:
- green onions
- ngo om
- ngo gai
- rau ram
IF you can't find any of the above herbs then use green onions (thinly sliced) and dills (chopped).
Cooking Instructions:
- in a pan, add it a bit of oil, add in 1/2 amount of garlic, stir until fragrant
- add in the quartered tomatoes, stir around 2-3 times, until orange liquid is released
So here's the recipe:
- 8 cups of chicken broth (home made, can or carton) or water if you don't have it.
- 3-4 fish fillet (any type of fish, you can add a whole fish or use fish head, just be careful of those sharp bones when consume) or you can sub. with 1 1/2 lb of prawns
- 1/2 cup of fresh pineapples, diced, more less to your liking (canned or frozen pineapple is ok too)
- 1 cup of bean sprouts (more less to your liking)
- 3-4 stalks of taro stems, peeled and sliced diagonally
 |
| Taro stems - sponge like - peel the outer green skin off with the edge of knife |
- 3 med. tomatoes, quartered
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 stalk of lemon grass, smashed
- 1 small chunk of rock sugar or 1/2 table spoon of cane sugar
- 1 of 1 inch square of frozen tamarind pulp or 1/2 table spoon of tamarind powder
- fish sauce
*Additional ingredients: You can add any of the below ingredients to this soup, more less to your liking, adjust soup broth (add more water) if soup is too thick.
- 1/4 cup baby clams
- 1/4 cup baby shrimps
- 1 tofu cut into small chunks
Flavoring herbs (this is what gives canh chua the flavor):
Thinly slice:
- green onions
- ngo om
- ngo gai
- rau ram
 |
| Ngo Om - rice paddy herb - lemony citrus sweet cumin flavor |
 |
| Ngo Gai - long coriander, thorny coriander, saw -leaf herb - taste close to cilantro |
 |
| Rau Ram - vietnamese coriander, blade like leaves - peppery flavor |
IF you can't find any of the above herbs then use green onions (thinly sliced) and dills (chopped).
Cooking Instructions:
- in a pan, add it a bit of oil, add in 1/2 amount of garlic, stir until fragrant
- add in the quartered tomatoes, stir around 2-3 times, until orange liquid is released
- add in the chopped pineapple and stir until soften, put a aside
- in a heavy pot, add a bit of oil, then add the last 1/2 amount garlic and shallot and stir until fragrant
- add in the fish fillets and let it cook for about 3 min.
- pour in the cooked tomatoes and pineapples
- put in the smashed lemon grass stalk
- add in the water or broth
- in a heavy pot, add a bit of oil, then add the last 1/2 amount garlic and shallot and stir until fragrant
- add in the fish fillets and let it cook for about 3 min.
- pour in the cooked tomatoes and pineapples
- put in the smashed lemon grass stalk
- add in the water or broth
- bring pot to boil then turn stove down to medium, to simmer
- add in any additional ingredients you would like to add
- add in the chunk of rock sugar and tamarind
- add in the bean sprout and taro stem slices last (these cook really fast)
Simmer all for 15-20 minutes, bring back up to boil, season it with fish sauce and you're done !
(I seasoned mine with a table spoon of 3 Crabs brand fish sauce. Different brand of fish sauce has different sodium content so season sparingly)
Spoon the soup into a big bowl, then add in handfuls of the thinly sliced herbs. If this is your first time eating this, add in a bit of the herbs at a time as it is very pungent in flavor. Serve with rice.
