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Preparation
10 minutes
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Cooking
25 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
If you are a fan of delicious fermented fish dishes from the Mekong Delta. Today, TasteVN will share with you the recipe for hot and delicious catfish hotpot. Let’s get cooking to make this tasty hotpot right now!
Ingredients for Catfish Hotpot For 4 people
Catfish 1 fish Fermented fish sauce 300 gr Eggplant 2 pieces Bitter melon 3 pieces Okra 300 gr Hotpot vegetables a little (water spinach/ lotus flowers) Lemongrass 10 stalks Shallots 2 bulbs (sliced) Bell pepper 2 pieces (sliced) Bird’s eye chili 5 pieces Minced garlic 3 cloves Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Common seasonings a little (salt/ sugar/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh catfish
- You should choose live catfish with a bulging belly on both sides. The fins and tail should be intact. The eyes should be clear, and the gills should be bright red without signs of hemorrhage, and there should be no foul odor.
- When pressing on the flesh, it should feel firm, not soft and mushy, and have good elasticity like rubber.
- When buying pre-prepared catfish, choose pieces with small fibers, white color, and fat that is interspersed with white like grapefruit segments. The fish meat should be firm, elastic when pressed, should not leak fluid, and should not have slime on the surface.
- Avoid buying catfish with bloated bodies, weak swimming, and pale color as this indicates they have been kept for too long.
How to choose fresh bitter melon
- You should choose bitter melons that are of moderate size, elongated shape, and still have the stem.
- The bitter melon should be bright green, shiny, with many tiny veins on the skin, and open thorns indicating it will be less bitter.
- Avoid buying dark green bitter melons with large swollen bodies, as they may have been treated with growth hormones.
- Do not buy ripe bitter melons that are orange-yellow, or have rot.
See details: How to choose fresh bitter melon
How to choose delicious eggplant
- Choose eggplants with smooth skin, bright and even color, with a fresh stem that is firmly attached to the fruit.
- Pick those that feel heavy in hand, not soft and mushy. When you gently press your finger on the skin, it should leave an imprint, indicating that the eggplant is ripe.
- Avoid choosing eggplants with wrinkled skin or many dark spots on the skin. If the skin color is pinkish-purple or light purple, and the skin is slightly hard, then do not buy as the fruit is overripe.
See details: How to choose fresh eggplant
How to choose fresh and crispy okra
- To choose delicious fresh okra, you should select those that are of medium size, light green in color, shiny, and have a thin layer of fine hairs on the outside.
- Fresh and young okra will feel soft when held, and you can easily snap off the tip with your fingers.
- You should not choose okra that is too large, as it tends to be hard and dark in color because these are usually older okra, which will be fibrous and less sweet when eaten.
See more: 5 benefits of okra for health
How to prepare Fish Hotpot
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Prepare catfish
After buying catfish, use a knife to scrape off the outer skin to remove the slime, then clean it, cut it into pieces about 2 finger lengths, and let it drain.
How to eliminate the fishy smell of catfish
- Method 1: Use lemon juice mixed with warm water to soak the fish for 5 – 7 minutes; the fishy smell will disappear immediately.
- Method 2: Soak the fish in salt water for 5 – 10 minutes or rub salt on the fish body, which not only eliminates the smell but also effectively removes slime.
- Method 3: Use diluted alcohol or white vinegar to soak the fish for 5 minutes, then rinse it clean with water.
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Prepare other ingredients
Clean the eggplant, cut it in half, then cut into pieces about 2 finger lengths. Remove the seeds from the bitter melon and cut into pieces about 1 finger length, wash the okra and cut into bite-sized pieces.
For the vegetables to dip in the hot pot, wash them and let them drain. Clean the lemongrass, crush half of it, and finely chop the remaining part. Finely chop 3 small chili peppers.
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Cook the broth
Put 500ml of water into a pot, then add the fermented fish sauce and the crushed lemongrass, place it on the stove and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the fermented fish sauce is well cooked.
Then, strain out the fish bones and keep the fish sauce water. Add the strained fish sauce water into the pot along with 2 liters of water and bring to a boil.
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Sauté Lemongrass and Chili
Place a pan on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, and turn the heat to medium. Wait for the oil to heat up, then add thinly sliced shallots and minced garlic to sauté until fragrant.
Next, add minced lemongrass and minced chili to the pan, stir-frying until the lemongrass turns golden and fragrant, then turn off the heat.
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Cook the Hotpot
Add sliced bird’s eye chili and bell pepper, along with half of the sautéed lemongrass and chili, into the pot of broth. Next, add the catfish and season with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, cooking over medium heat for about 10 minutes. When the fish is cooked, add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and taste to adjust according to your family’s preference.
Finally, scoop the fish out, add bitter melon and eggplant to cook until done, then add the remaining sautéed lemongrass and chili into the pot and turn off the heat!
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Final Product
The Tra fish hot pot is fragrant, steaming hot, served with a variety of vegetables that enhance its delicious flavor. The fatty Tra fish is not fishy, and the mildly spicy broth is very stimulating to the palate.
You can enjoy the hot pot with fresh vermicelli to make the dish even more delicious!
See more:
So TasteVN has successfully guided you to make the hot and attractive Tra fish hot pot to treat your family. Wish you success in making it!
