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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
15 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Sweet and sour basa fish soup with a distinctly rural flavor, sweet and sour, very pleasing to the palate, suitable for hot summer afternoons. This soup dish is simple yet delicious, can be eaten repeatedly without getting tired of it; let’s cook right away with TasteVN!
Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Basa Fish Soup For 2 people
Basa fish 500 gr Tomatoes 3 fruits Bean sprouts 100 gr Pineapple 1/5 fruit Vietnamese balm 2 stalks (Mint) Ripe tamarind pulp 1 tablespoon Okra 6 fruits Chili 1 fruit Green onions and cilantro a little Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Common spices a little (salt/ sugar/ monosodium glutamate)
Tools Needed
How to Choose Fresh Ingredients
How to choose fresh basa fish
- Good basa fish has clear, slightly bulging eyes, bright red gills firmly attached to the star fruit. When pressed, the flesh feels firm and elastic. The fish has a characteristic fishy smell, not a foul smell.
- Do not buy fish that is soft and mushy, has cloudy eyes, sunken eyes, gills that have turned dull brown or pale green, and the cut surface of the fish is uneven and leaks fluid.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Good tomatoes have a bright red outer skin, plump and shiny. When ripe, the skin shows evenly spaced tiny spots, and when cut in half, the seeds inside turn yellow while the flesh is red.
- Ripe tomatoes have a characteristic sweet aroma, especially if the stem is still fresh and firmly attached to the fruit, indicating that these are freshly picked tomatoes.
- Do not buy tomatoes that lack stems or have a darkened stem end. Soft, mushy tomatoes with wrinkled skin or scratches should also be avoided.
How to choose fresh and delicious pineapples
- A properly ripe pineapple has a mix of yellow and green colors, with a characteristic sweet aroma. If the fruit is mostly green, it means it is not fully ripe, while a yellow fruit with dark brown patches indicates that it has over-ripened and is about to spoil.
- A round, plump pineapple with thin skin is sweeter than the long, slender type.
- A naturally ripe pineapple will have large, widely spaced eyes, while a pineapple with small, closely spaced eyes is under-ripe or artificially ripened.
How to choose fresh and delicious okra
- Choose okra with a deep green color, medium-sized about the size of a thumb; this indicates that it is just right for eating, not too young and not too old.
- Freshly picked okra will have a thin layer of fuzz covering the outside and the stem will still ooze sap, giving a firm feel when held.
- Do not buy okra that is soft and wilted, has black spots, or is overly large with a pale green color, and feels hard inside when touched.
How to make sour basa fish soup
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Prepare the basa fish
Clean the basa fish by removing the gills and intestines, cut the fish into bite-sized pieces, then wash with diluted salt water, rinse with clean water 2 – 3 times, and let it drain. To save time on preparation, you can ask the seller to clean the fish for you when you buy it.
Tips for preparing basa fish to avoid fishy smell:- Method 1: Rub the fish with coarse salt (or lemon juice, vinegar) or soak the fish in diluted salt water for about 3 – 4 minutes, then rinse clean.
- Method 2: Another method that also helps clean the fish and effectively eliminate the smell is to soak the fish in a mixture of diluted alcohol and crushed ginger, then rinse clean and let it drain.
See details: How to prepare fish to be clean and eliminate fishy smell
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Prepare other ingredients
Wash the edible chrysanthemum (Vietnamese mint) to remove the outer skin, slice it diagonally, wash it again, and drain.
Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and cut them into wedges. Soak the bean sprouts in water, then pick out all the debris, rinse 2-3 times, and drain.
Wash the okra, cut off the stems, and cut into pieces about 2 finger lengths.
Trim the roots off the green onions and Vietnamese coriander, remove any wilted leaves, and wash them with water. Chop the green onion leaves and Vietnamese coriander finely, and set aside the green onion bulbs.
Peel the pineapple, remove the eyes, wash it again, and cut it into small pieces. Put the chopped pineapple, green onion bulbs, and 1 chili pepper into a mortar and pound until finely mashed.
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Cooking the soup
Place the pot on the stove over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, when the oil starts to heat up, add all the tomatoes and stir for about 2 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and release a reddish-orange sauce. Then reduce the heat to low, add the mixture of minced green onions and chili, and sauté for about 1 – 2 minutes until fragrant.
Next, add the catfish carefully, stirring gently for about 3 minutes until the fish is semi-cooked.
Then, pour 1.5 liters of filtered water into the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water boils, add tamarind, lower the heat, and wait for about 10 minutes until the fish is fully cooked.
Season the soup with a mixture of spices including: 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce (season to your taste).
When the soup is to your liking, add mint, okra, and bean sprouts, and cook for another minute until the mixture is just done before turning off the heat. Add the cilantro and ladle into bowls to enjoy.
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Final product
The sour catfish soup has the sweet and fatty taste of fish combined with the sourness of tomatoes, and the fresh, crunchy texture of water morning glory and bean sprouts blended in the sweet and sour broth, making it truly appealing.
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The recipe is ready, the dish is amazing, why not get started on cooking a pot of sour basa fish soup for your family to enjoy? Wishing you success!
