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Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Cá)

Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Marinate 8 hours
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 8 servings

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.