Catfish is a common ingredient in the menus of many families. Today, let’s join TasteVN in the kitchen to learn 2 ways to cook catfish in a sour soup and a delicious stew to cool off during the summer, let’s make this soup right away!
1. Stewed Catfish
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Stewed Catfish For 4 people
Catfish 500 gr Tomatoes 2 pieces Celery 10 stalks Green onions 10 stalks Basil 5 stalks Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Salt/ monosodium glutamate A little
Image of Ingredients
How to Cook Stewed Catfish
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Prepare the Catfish
After buying the catfish, remove the gills and fins, scrape off the scales, then wash it clean and let it drain.
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges. Remove the roots of the green onions, wash them, and cut them into pieces about 2 fingers long, separating the roots and leaves.
Wash the celery, cut it into pieces about 2 fingers long, separating the stalks and leaves.
Pick the basil leaves, wash them, and chop them into bite-sized pieces.
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Cook the soup
Add 1 liter of water to the pot, place it on the stove over medium heat, then add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning powder to the pot.
When the water boils, add the fish and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, skimming off the foam, then add the roots of the green onions and celery and cook for 2 minutes, followed by the green onion leaves and celery leaves, stirring well and adding 1 tablespoon of fish sauce.
Cook for another 5 minutes until the soup boils again, taste and adjust seasoning, then add the chopped basil leaves, stir well, and turn off the heat.
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Final product
The delicious fish soup with bank fish is appealing, with firm and sweet fish meat blending with the slightly sour broth of tomatoes, the fragrant scent of celery, and green onions, making the soup even more enticing.
You can prepare a bowl of salty fish sauce for dipping the fish! Wishing you success in your cooking.
2. Bank fish cooked with sour bamboo shoots soup
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Bank fish cooked with sour bamboo shoots soup For 4 people
Bank fish 1 fish Sour bamboo shoots 250 gr Tomatoes 2 fruits Pineapple 1/4 fruit (pineapple) Chili 1 fruit Shallots 2 bulbs Garlic 2 cloves Vietnamese coriander 5 sprigs Green onions 5 sprigs Fermented fish sauce 1 tablespoon Fish sauce 1.5 tablespoons White wine 1 tablespoon Common seasoning a little (Salt/ sugar/ seasoning powder/ pepper)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh sour bamboo shoots
- When choosing sour bamboo shoots, observe and select shoots that are rough in shape, evenly sized, with thin, crunchy skin and high water content, choose sour bamboo shoots that have a natural fragrant smell.
- Do not choose bamboo shoots that have unusual colors, bad smells, and spots on them.
- You can use sour bamboo shoots made from bamboo, reed, or other types for cooking.
- Additionally, if you have time and want to ensure quality, you can buy bamboo shoots to soak and sour at home using an extremely simple recipe from TasteVN.
How to choose fresh pineapple
- Delicious ripe pineapples usually have an eye-catching yellow color, sometimes mixed with green in some spots. These are ripe pineapples that have reached a certain level of sweetness.
- It is advisable to choose pineapples that are slightly round and shorter because these will have more flesh compared to longer ones.
- Choose pineapples with larger eyes if possible. These are mature fruits, naturally ripe, and not artificially ripened.
- If the pineapple is just ripe, you will feel a moderate softness when touching it. The skin of the ripe pineapple is usually slightly wrinkled.
How to prepare Sour bamboo shoot soup with Catfish
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Prepare and marinate the catfish
After purchasing, soak the catfish in diluted salt water, rinse thoroughly with water 2 – 3 times, drain, and cut in half.
Marinate the fish with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, and 1 tablespoon of white wine.
Rub evenly and let sit for 15 minutes for the fish to absorb the seasoning.
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Prepare other ingredients
Sour bamboo shoots after purchasing should be soaked in water, rinsed with clean water, and drained.
Tomatoes should be washed and cut into wedges. Cilantro, sawtooth coriander, and spring onions should be trimmed of old roots, washed, and cut into pieces. Garlic and shallots should be peeled and minced.
You mix 1 tablespoon of shrimp paste with 100ml of filtered water, stir well, and wait for the paste to settle, then use a spoon to scoop the clear water on top to season the soup.
To save time, you can ask the seller to peel and remove the eyes of the pineapple. At home, you just need to rinse it briefly with water, then use a knife to cut it into four lengthwise.
Then, remove the core inside and cut the pineapple into slices.
Quick way to peel pineapple without cutting the eyes
- First, cut the pineapple lengthwise into 4 equal parts.
- Continue to cut along the length of the pineapple piece, then stop at the end of the fruit and cut firmly to take the flesh and discard the skin.
- Avoid cutting too close to the skin to prevent the eyes of the pineapple from being mixed in. Finally, cut it into smaller pieces as needed.
See details: 5 simple ways to peel pineapple easily without wasting much time.
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Sauté sour bamboo shoots
Place a pot on the stove over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up, then sauté chopped shallots and garlic until fragrant.
When the shallots and garlic are fragrant, add the sour bamboo shoots and sauté for about 2 minutes.
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Cook the soup
Once the fish has marinated for enough time, use a torch to lightly heat the fish to remove the smell of alcohol.
Next, add 1.2 liters of water to the soup pot, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, then add the fish and cook for an additional 4 – 5 minutes until the fish is cooked, then continue to add tomatoes and pineapple.
Season the soup with the shrimp paste, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of seasoning powder, stirring gently to dissolve the seasonings.
Wait for the water to boil again, taste and adjust the seasoning, add chopped Vietnamese coriander, cilantro, and perilla leaves, then turn off the heat.
Tip- To eliminate the fishy smell, you should torch the fish before cooking.
- To enhance the flavor of the soup, you can add fried garlic!
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Final Product
The dish of catfish cooked with sour bamboo shoot soup is ready, a steaming bowl of soup, fragrant with steam.
The soup is sour and spicy, with soft, fatty fish meat rich in the flavors of home. Pick up a piece of fish, dip it in a bit of salty fish sauce, take a bite of rice, oh nothing compares.
Show off your cooking skills and treat the family!
Feel free to check out another delicious way to cook catfish with sour soup that sister Trang personally prepared and shared:
See details: How to cook catfish with sour soup (recipe shared by users)
How to choose fresh and delicious catfish
- Fresh catfish should have a slimy, shiny body and bright color. The body of fresh catfish is firm, and when held in the middle, it does not bend. Additionally, fresh catfish should have a characteristic fishy smell, not a foul odor.
- Choose catfish with bulging, clear, sparkling eyes, and naturally bright, shiny scales. When pressed lightly on the fish meat, it should be firm with good elasticity, leaving no fingerprint indentation on the flesh.
- Avoid catfish with pale colors, lacking shine. When holding in the middle, the fish bends down, and the eyes are usually cloudy, making it hard to see inside because they have started to spoil.
How to eliminate the fishy smell of catfish
- Method 1: Use salt or ginger water to rub all over the fish to reduce the fishy smell and slime, then rinse with clean water.
- Method 2: Wash the fish with lemon juice and rice vinegar, then rinse with clean water; this is also very effective in eliminating the fishy smell.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Choose tomatoes that are red, round, juicy, with thin, shiny skin; these are ripe tomatoes.
- Observe the stem; if the tomato still has a green stem tightly attached, it is freshly harvested and will be delicious.
- Avoid buying tomatoes that are unevenly colored; if they feel soft and lack a certain elasticity when touched, they are usually under-ripe or have wilted due to being stored too long.
With just a few simple steps, you can immediately cook a delicious and attractive bowl of braised fish and sour soup for your beloved family to enjoy. Wishing you success with the sharing from TasteVN.
*Refer to the recipe and images from the YouTube channel: Bb Kitty and Delicious Vietnamese Dishes
