Sour soup is an appealing dish, especially on hot summer afternoons, its sweet and sour taste brings delight to those who eat it. Let’s get into the kitchen to cook sour soup with shrimp and fragrant fish with TasteVN.
1. Sour soup with shrimp
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients for Sour soup with shrimp Serves 3 – 4 people
Tiger shrimp 300 gr Pickled mustard greens 200 gr Squid 200 gr Bean sprouts 100 gr Vietnamese coriander 20 gr Culantro 20 gr Bird’s eye chili 2 pieces Pineapple 1/2 piece Ginger 50 gr Fried garlic 2 tablespoons Tomato 2 pieces Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Seasoning a little (Sugar/salt/MSG/seasoning powder/pepper)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh squid
- Fresh squid will have a shiny color. The brown part will be dark brown, while the body of the squid will be opaque white like milk.
- When you touch the body of the squid, you will feel that the squid meat is firm and elastic.
- You can observe the color of the squid’s eyes, which should be clear, not bulging out, with a visible pupil and free from yellowing or discharge. Non-fresh squid will have cloudy eyes, and sometimes there is discharge.
- In addition, fresh squid will have the head and tentacles tightly attached together, firm. Non-fresh squid will have these parts often soft and easy to separate.
- Do not choose squid with a pale green color, foul smell, non-elastic flesh, and many dark spots. This indicates that the squid is spoiled, kept for too long, or may have been injected with chemicals.
How to choose fresh shrimp
- When choosing shrimp, you should opt for fresh shrimp with a transparent shell, without any foul or rotten smell, avoiding shrimp with dark patches or uneven colors, bruised, or slimy.
- Choose shrimp with slightly curved bodies, firm meat but not unusually plump, with flexible shell joints, and the head and body tightly attached together, with the head not falling off the body.
- Fresh shrimp usually have their tails curled together. If the shrimp’s tail is fanned out, it means the shrimp has been injected with chemicals or water to make it plump.
See details: How to choose fresh shrimp and how to preserve fresh shrimp in the refrigerator for a long time
How to make Pickled Melon Soup with Shrimp
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Prepare the ingredients
Wash the squid and shrimp thoroughly, then rub with salt and alcohol for 1 – 2 minutes to remove the fishy smell and rinse with water once again.
See details at: Simple tips to eliminate the fishy smell from seafoodFor the shrimp, boil until cooked, then peel off the shells, leaving the tails intact.
For the squid, cut into dragon scale shapes and then into bite-sized pieces, then blanch for 2 – 3 seconds in boiling water with 1 tablespoon of salt and 50g of sliced ginger.
Slice the chili into thin, small pieces. Cut the tomatoes into wedges.
Chop the cilantro and rice paddy herb into short segments about 3 – 4 cm long. Rinse the pickled melon, drain, and cut into pieces about 2 cm long.
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Sauté the tomatoes
Place a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and minced garlic. Sauté the garlic until fragrant and golden, then add the pineapple, tomatoes, and chili to stir-fry together.
Note: It is advisable to add the garlic when the oil is not yet hot to prevent the garlic from burning and to ensure it turns a uniform golden color.
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Cook the soup
After sautéing for 30 seconds, add 1.5 liters of water.
When the water boils, add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of seasoning powder, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then adjust the taste to your liking.
Next, add all the remaining ingredients: shrimp, squid, and bean sprouts. Wait for the water to boil, then sprinkle cilantro on top and turn off the heat.
Scoop the soup into a bowl, sprinkle a little chopped green onion on top, and enjoy.
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Final product
The sour shrimp soup has a delicious sour, sweet, and spicy flavor. The sweetness of the soup comes not only from the sugar but also from the fresh taste of shrimp and squid.
This will be a delicious soup for you to showcase your cooking skills for the family to enjoy!
2. Sour fish soup
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Preparation
5 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty level
Medium
Ingredients for Sour Melon Soup with Fish For 4 people
Fish 1 piece (500gr) Tomatoes 2 pieces Sour melon 300 gr Dried shallots A little Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Green onions 5 gr Cooking oil 1 tablespoon Seasoning A little (Sugar/salt/MSG/seasoning powder/pepper)
How to choose fresh, delicious fish
- You can choose the type of fish according to your preference for cooking: carp, snakehead fish, catfish, tilapia,…
- You should choose fish that have an intact body, firm flesh, not bruised, and scales that are not peeling.
- It’s best to buy live fish that are swimming. If live fish are not available, you can look at the exterior of the fish and choose those with clear eyes, shiny scales that are not falling off, and pink gills.
- Fish with sunken eyes, pale scales that easily fall off, and flesh that lacks elasticity when pressed are no longer fresh.
How to make Sour Melon Fish Soup
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Prepare the ingredients
You should squeeze out excess water from the sour melon to reduce its sourness. Cut the tomatoes into wedges.
Smash the dried shallots and chop them finely. Cut the green onions into 2 – 3 cm long pieces.
For the fish, after scaling, gutting, and removing the gills and fins, rinse it with clean water and cut it into slices about 4 – 5 cm thick.
Tip to reduce fishy smell: You can rub salt along with rice wine, lemon, vinegar, or ginger onto the fish and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then rinse with water to help reduce the fishy smell.See details: 7 tips to easily and effectively remove the fishy smell
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Marinate and stir-fry the fish
Take a bowl, add the fish, and marinate it with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce for 15 minutes.
Next, take a pot, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and sauté the shallots until fragrant.
When the shallots are fragrant, add the fish and stir-fry until the fish is firm.
Small tip: You can fry the fish first instead of stir-frying to make the fish firmer, not break apart, and absorb the seasoning better.
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Cook the soup
After seeing that the fish has tightened, add the sour melon and tomatoes and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Then pour in 1 liter of water and bring to a boil.
When the soup is boiling, add 1 tablespoon of seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, then adjust the taste to your preference and sprinkle chopped green onions into the soup bowl, turn off the heat to finish.
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Final product
The sour melon soup after completion has a sweet and sour taste that is refreshing. The melon is chewy and crunchy along with the rich fish will provide you with a wonderful meal.
How to choose fresh delicious tomatoes
- You should choose tomatoes with plump, smooth skin that are bright red, with green stems still attached.
- Avoid fruits that are dark or have small black spots and those that have uneven colors, both green and red.
- Do not select fruits that are too soft or too hard, or that have juice leaking out, as they may be spoiled.
How to choose fresh delicious pickled vegetables
- Choose pickled vegetables that are yellow to orange, as these pickled vegetables have the right level of sourness for cooking soup. Pickled vegetables that are still green have not been fermented long enough, and still taste spicy and harsh without the right sourness.
- Avoid jars of pickles with a film floating on top, as these jars may have been fermented too long, may be spoiled, or too sour to taste good.
- Additionally, you can make pickled vegetables at home to ensure quality.
See more
Wish you success in making these 2 delicious sour soup dishes with shrimp and sour soup with fish to treat your family!
*Source of the recipe and images from the Youtube channel Knorr Viet Nam and Handmade VN.
