Today, let’s join TasteVN in the kitchen to see 3 delicious and flavorful ways to cook snakehead fish (fish) that are easy to make at home, using familiar ingredients that bring a new color to the dish. Let’s make this braised dish right away!
1. Braised Snakehead Fish
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Braised Snakehead Fish For 4 people
Snakehead fish 1 piece Tomato 1 piece Shallot 2 tablespoons (Crushed) Green onion 2 stalks (chopped) Oyster sauce 1 teaspoon Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Common spices A little (sugar/ salt/ monosodium glutamate/ pepper)
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Select whole tomatoes that are not bruised, with smooth, shiny skin, and plump. The bright red color should be uniform without any green or red spots.
- Gently squeeze with your hand to feel a moderate softness—not too hard and not too mushy, without leaking juice.
- When smelling, there should be a characteristic mild fragrance, while overripe tomatoes will lack scent.
- Fresh and delicious tomatoes will have fresh green stems that cling tightly to the fruit, making them hard to separate.
What is bulb onion? Where to buy bulb onion?
- Bulb onion, also known as shallot, sun onion, or fragrant onion. The bulb is opaque white, about the size of a fingertip, and is widely cultivated in the central region of our country. Bulb onion has a spicy, sweet taste and a fragrant smell, often used as a seasoning for flavoring in dishes.
- You can find bulb onion at large supermarkets, agricultural markets, or reputable large e-commerce sites.
Tools needed
How to cook braised snakehead fish
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Prepare snakehead fish
After buying the fish, clean the fins and scales, remove the internal organs, and use a knife to cut it into pieces about the thickness of a finger horizontally.
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the tomatoes thoroughly, cut them into small, even slices, or you can dice them if you prefer.
Place a pan on the stove, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, stir well until the sugar dissolves, then add 1 tablespoon of crushed shallots and fry until fragrant. Add all the tomatoes and stir-fry on high heat until the tomatoes are soft, then turn off the heat.
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Marinate the fish
Marinate the fish with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of crushed shallots (you can substitute with garlic), and mix well to absorb the flavors.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes to absorb the flavors.
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Fish Stew
Place the fish in a clay pot, pour all the tomato sauce on top, turn on the stove and cover tightly, stew over high heat until the released liquid boils, then add more water. Just enough to cover the fish is fine.
Reduce the heat and stew until the sauce thickens slightly, after about 10 minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning, add green onions and you can turn off the stove.
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Final Product
The fish stew is evenly cooked with bright red tomato sauce, accompanied by the fragrant aroma of green onions and fried shallots. The hot stew has a rich flavor, slightly salty and sweet, making it incredibly appetizing!
2. Fish Stew with Pepper
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Braised Snakehead Fish with Pepper Serves 4 people
Snakehead fish 1 fish Garlic 2 tablespoons (minced) Shallots 4 bulbs Chili 5 pieces Green onions 4 sprigs Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Sugar/ ground pepper a little
Ingredient Image
How to Cook Braised Snakehead Fish with Pepper
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Prepare the snakehead fish
Clean the snakehead fish by removing fins, scales, and washing thoroughly with water. Use a knife to cut into moderately thick slices, and let it drain while waiting to cook.
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the green onions and cut them in half. Peel the shallots, slice thinly, or leave them whole as desired. Wash the chilies and remove the stems.
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Fish Stew
Place a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to melt 1 tablespoon of sugar, stir continuously over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and turns a light yellow color.
Add garlic to sauté until fragrant, then add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of water, and stir well until it boils again.
Neatly arrange the fish in the pot, stew over medium-high heat until the fish surface firms up, and the fish sauce boils, then flip the fish regularly. Add green onion, chili, shallots, a little ground pepper, cover and stew for another 10 minutes before turning off the heat.
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Final Product
The fish is evenly cooked with a moderate salty-sweet flavor, aromatic from the strong scent of garlic and onion. Pick a piece of tender, delicious fish with a natural sweet and salty taste, combined with a hint of spiciness to stimulate the taste buds, and enjoy with hot rice for a perfect match!
3. Fish Stew with Garlic and Chili Sauce
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Fish Stewed with Garlic and Chili For 4 people
Fish 1 slice (300g) Minced chili 1 tablespoon Minced garlic 1 tablespoon Chili powder 1/2 teaspoon Tapioca flour 3 teaspoons Cooking oil 100 ml Fish sauce 3 teaspoons Common seasoning a little (Sugar/ salt/ seasoning powder/ ground pepper)
Ingredient Images
How to make Fish Stewed with Garlic and Chili
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Prepare the fish
Wash the fish thoroughly and let it drain while waiting to cook. Marinate the fish with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder, mix well to let the fish absorb the flavors for about 15 minutes.
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Fry the fish
Put the tapioca starch on a plate, roll the fish slices in the starch so that the starch evenly covers the surface of the fish.
Heat a pan containing 100ml of cooking oil on the stove, when the oil is hot, gently drop the fish in and fry on medium-low heat. Fry until the fish is golden brown, then remove it.
How to fry fish crispy and delicious, without splattering oil
- You should choose a deep pan to fry the fish submerged in oil, helping the fish to be crispy and delicious without worrying about oil splattering.
- Wait until the oil is hot before adding the fish to fry on medium heat, when the underside is golden, turn the fish over. Avoid flipping frequently to prevent the fish from breaking.
- Use ginger to rub on the surface of the pan, wait until the pan is hot before frying the fish.
See details: How to fry fish crispy and delicious
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Fish Stew
Place another pan on the stove, bring the garlic chili sauce mixture to a boil, then add the fried fish slices to the stew, reduce the heat, and turn the fish frequently so that it absorbs the sauce evenly. When the sauce thickens, you can turn off the heat.
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Final Product
The garlic chili sauce fish is hot, with a crispy exterior and tender, delicious, and firm flesh inside without being mushy. The spicy garlic chili sauce is fragrant and has a rich flavor, salty and sweet as it blends into each piece of fish.
Eating it with white rice and cucumber is absolutely wonderful!
What is catfish – snakehead fish?
- Catfish is also known by other names such as snakehead fish, black snakehead is a type of fish that has a silver-gray color, living in shallow water areas, rivers, and lakes.
- Depending on the living environment with different salinity, the size of the fish can vary, ranging from 80 to 200cm in length.
- Catfish is special in that its pectoral fin is divided into two distinct parts. The body of the fish is elongated and slightly flattened.
How to choose fresh and delicious catfish – snakehead fish
- You should choose whole fish, the body should not have scratches or any visible bruises, and no strange spots on the body.
- The eyes of the fish should be clear, the gills bright red, the scales shiny and evenly arranged without any falling off.
- Gently press the body of the fish; if it has good elasticity, not too hard or too soft, then you can choose to buy it.
- Avoid buying fish with a mushy body, flaky flesh, bruised body, dark red gills, and a strong unpleasant odor that can irritate the nose.
Effective methods to remove fishy smell
- Use rice washing water to soak the fish for about 10 – 15 minutes, then take it out and rinse clean.
- Salt also effectively removes fishy smell; soak the fish in dilute saltwater for 5 – 10 minutes, then rinse clean.
See more
Hope that with the 3 ways to make braised fish (snakehead fish) that TasteVN just shared can help you create delicious dishes for your family to enjoy. Wishing you success!
*Refer to images and recipes from YouTube channels: Happy Kitchen, Sea Delicacies, Vietnamese Soul Food
