-
Preparation
20 minutes
-
Cooking
30 minutes
-
Difficulty
Easy
Bong lau fish hot pot is a hot pot dish that is delicious, nutritious, and very famous in the western provinces, suitable for hot summer days and family parties. Let’s cook this delicious dish with TasteVN!
Ingredients for Bong Lau Fish Hot Pot For 4 people
Bong lau fish 1 kg Sour tamarind 2 packets Tomatoes 4 fruits Chili peppers 3 fruits Lemongrass 3 stalks Accompanying vegetables A little Fried onions 1 tablespoon Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Common spices A little (sugar/ salt/ seasoning/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh bong lau fish
- For bong lau fish, we should choose those that are of moderate size, with prominent and shiny skin patterns.
- The body has a certain transparency, and the fish meat has a certain elasticity when pressed.
- Do not choose fish that are too large or too small, have a pale color, or cloudy eyes. The fish meat is too soft and has an unusual odor.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- It is advisable to choose tomatoes that are bright red and uniformly colored, with taut and plump skin.
- It is advisable to select ripe tomatoes that have a natural fragrance.
- Do not buy tomatoes that are ripe but lack fragrance, as these may have been injected with ripening agents that compromise safety, or those that are scratched or bruised.
How to prepare Fish Hot Pot
-
Prepare the fish
After purchasing the fish, clean it, remove the intestines, rinse with clean water, then cut into pieces about 2 finger lengths and let drain.
To remove the fish’s sliminess and eliminate the fishy smell, it is recommended to rub the fish with salt several times and then rinse with clean water and let drain.
How to clean fish properly and without smell
- Method 1: Soak and wash the fish in rice water for about 15 minutes, then rinse with clean water.
- Method 2: Use ginger and white wine to wash the fish, then rinse with clean water.
- Method 3: Use coarse salt to rub on the fish meat, rinse with clean water.
- Method 4: Soak in diluted vinegar water for about 5 minutes, then rinse with clean water.
See details: 7 tips for easily and effectively eliminating fishy odors
-
Prepare other ingredients
Tomatoes are washed clean and cut into wedge shapes. Lemongrass is washed clean, cut off the root and green leaves, then smashed the lemongrass stalks.
Pick the accompanying vegetables, discard any bad leaves, wash them clean, and let them dry.
Tip: Choose accompanying vegetables based on your family’s taste or ask the vegetable seller for suggestions!
-
Cook the hotpot
Boil a sufficient amount of water (about 2 liters), then add the cut tomatoes into the pot.
Put 2 packets of tamarind into a bowl, add a little hot water and mash to extract the tamarind juice into the hotpot water, making sure not to include the tamarind seeds! Then add 3 smashed stalks of lemongrass into the mixture.
Wait for the hotpot water to boil, then season with a mixture of spices including: 1/2 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of seasoning powder, 1/2 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce into the hotpot water, using a ladle to stir until all the spices dissolve. Adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste.
Next, add 1 tablespoon of fried onions to make the broth more fragrant. Finally, add the fish, wait for the mixture to boil again, and once the fish is cooked, you can enjoy it right away.
Final Product
The delicious and nutritious fish hotpot has been completed, true to the flavor of the Mekong Delta. The fish has a bright white color, and the broth has a light brown color accompanied by the red of tomatoes, making it very eye-catching.
When eaten, the fish is soft and fatty, the broth is rich in flavor with a light sweet and sour taste, and it’s tastier when served with vermicelli and accompanying vegetables.
Distinguishing between bông lau fish and dứa fish
- Dứa fish: lives in brackish water, slightly yellow fat, body shorter than bông lau fish, larger belly due to more fat, body opaque, not white.
- Bông lau fish: lives in freshwater, body longer than dứa fish, has less fat, white fat and more fragrant meat, the body of bông lau fish is whiter than dứa fish, bông lau fish is commonly found in the Vàm Nao River region – An Giang.
See more
The above article has guided you on how to make delicious and attractive fish hot pot, suitable for hot summer days to cool down your body. With a simple and effective recipe from TasteVN, we wish you success in your cooking!
*Source of the recipe and images from the YouTube channel Thach La
