Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Cá)
What is Canh Chua Cá?
Canh chua cá is a classic Southern Vietnamese sweet and sour fish soup. Tender catfish steaks simmer in a tangy broth made with pineapple, tamarind, and a spoonful of Tom Yum paste, then the pot is loaded with fresh vegetables like elephant ear (bạc hà), tomatoes, okra, bean sprouts, and king oyster mushrooms.
The finishing touch is fragrant rice paddy herb (ngò om) and a drizzle of homemade garlic oil right before serving. It is sweet, sour, and savory all at once, and best enjoyed with a bowl of steamed rice.
Instructions
- Lightly toast garlic in oil until golden and aromatic. Marinate the catfish with the garlic oil, fish sauce, sliced green onion, and Thai peppers overnight.
- Prepare the vegetables: slice the tomatoes, mushrooms, elephant ear (bạc hà), and rice paddy herb (ngò om).
- The next day, heat the chicken broth, water, and pineapple chunks with their syrup.
- In a separate pot, lightly toast more garlic in oil.
- Add the marinated catfish and toss until the fish is no longer pink.
- Pour in the heated chicken broth, water, and pineapple over high heat.
- After about 10 minutes (or until fully cooked), remove the catfish from the broth and set aside.
- Season the broth with tamarind powder, fish sauce, sugar, chicken powder, and MSG.
- Add the sliced tomatoes, mushrooms of your choice (oyster or enoki work best), and the elephant ear.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, top with bean sprouts, rice paddy herb, and more fried garlic oil. Serve with the catfish, rice or vermicelli, and fish sauce with sliced Thai peppers for dipping.
See the recipe card below for full quantities and instructions.
Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Cá)
Ingredients
Garlic oil
- 1 whole bulb garlic minced (or dehydrated garlic as a shortcut)
- ½ cup oil
Catfish marinade
- 4 lbs catfish cut into 2" thick steaks
- 2 tablespoon garlic oil from above
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 stalks green onion sliced
- 3-4 Thai peppers sliced
For the broth
- 4 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
- 56 oz water
- 16 oz canned pineapple chunks with syrup
- 2 tablespoon tamarind powder
- 4 tablespoon fish sauce
- 5 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chicken powder
- 1 teaspoon MSG
Fresh vegetables (cleaned and prepped)
- 3 whole tomatoes sliced into wedges
- 1.25 lb mushrooms oyster or enoki work best
- 0.75 lb elephant ear (bạc hà) sliced into bite-size pieces
- 16 oz bean sprouts cleaned
- 1 bunch rice paddy herb (ngò om) sliced thin
To serve
- steamed rice or rice vermicelli
- fish sauce with sliced Thai peppers for dipping the catfish
Instructions
Day 1: garlic oil, marinade and prep
- Make the garlic oil: add the oil and garlic to a small pot over medium heat and lightly toast until golden and aromatic. Turn off the heat; the garlic will keep cooking.
- Marinate the catfish with 2 tablespoon of the garlic oil, 2 tablespoon fish sauce, the sliced green onion, and Thai peppers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Prep the vegetables: slice the tomatoes, mushrooms, elephant ear, and rice paddy herb. Store in the fridge until ready to cook.
Day 2: cook the soup
- In a separate pot, heat the chicken broth, water, and pineapple chunks with their syrup.
- In a large (6 qt) pot, lightly toast a little more of the garlic oil. Add the marinated catfish and toss until the fish is no longer pink.
- Pour the heated broth into the pot with the catfish over high heat.
- After about 10 minutes (or until fully cooked), remove the catfish from the broth and set aside.
- Season the broth with the tamarind powder, fish sauce, sugar, chicken powder, and MSG. Taste and adjust.
- Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, and elephant ear and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, top with the bean sprouts, rice paddy herb, and more garlic oil.
- Serve with the catfish, rice or vermicelli noodles, and fish sauce with sliced Thai peppers for dipping.
Notes
Shortcut: use store-bought dehydrated garlic to make the fried garlic oil for extra flavor.
