Canh Chua Ca

Hot and Sour Tamarind Fish Soup

The following soup was introduced to me by my Aunty Ming in Indianapolis. She is such a great cook and teacher. This soup tastes so incredible, I could eat it EVERY day. And now to share it with you!

Ingredients:

- To start , you'll need chicken broth seasoned with tamarind. Use about four or five cans for a good soup base. The tamarind can be added in concentrate form bought at the store (about a tablespoon for every cup/can of stock).

- You'll need a good amount of fish as well. Aunty cleaned and skinned Tilapia for this recipe. Catfish, sea bass, and red snapper work well too. While skinning the fish may not be easy, she told me it makes a better presentation in the soup. You'll need to then chop the fish into pieces about an inch wide.

- Chop up one whole pineapple, 2-3 tomatoes, ~3 stalks of celery. Get a few cups of bean sprouts, and a couple cups of cilantro and some fresh cumin. You can also add okra, lemon grass, ginger, or even bamboo shoots to make things more interesting. Some even suggest fresh coriander. Also, fry and dry about five cloves of finely chopped garlic to season at the end. Make as much as a whole bulb, it'll keep for later use!






This is what it looked
like before
we fired up the stove. -->







Now to start putting it all together:

Bring the stock to a boil and add the fish!





Once it comes to a boil again add the celery and pineapple. When it comes back to a boil again.. let it go for a couple minutes and taste. At this point you can adjust the flavor by adding a little sugar to sweeten, some lemon or tamarind for more sour.





At this point, you're in the home stretch. I had to contain myself from eating it all up it was smelling so good. The tomatoes take no time at all to cook, so as soon as you're happy with the taste of the soup, dump them in.





The soup is almost ready to be served. Add the fried garlic bits on top and break out the bowls! When you serve, put some of the sprouts, cilantro, and cumin in the individual serving bowls and spoon the soup on top.

Traditionally, this dish is served with rice.


Enjoy!