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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
25 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Sweet and sour catfish soup is a soup dish that is simple to prepare but has an incredibly appealing flavor, combining various ingredients to bring you a pot of delicious and flavorful soup. Let’s follow into the kitchen to learn how to cook this dish!
Ingredients for Sweet and Sour Catfish Soup For 2 people
Catfish 300 gr Garlic 8 cloves Bean sprouts 300 gr Pineapple 1/2 fruit Tomato 3 fruits Green onion 4 branches Okra 100 gr Herbs/cilantro A little Chili 2 fruits Fermented rice 200 gr Fish sauce 3 tablespoons Cooking oil 100 ml Common spices A little (sugar/ salt/ seasoning/ monosodium glutamate)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh catfish
- You should choose fish with shiny, smooth skin, and when touched, you can feel good elasticity.
- Preferably choose fish with clear, slightly bulging eyes that are not leaking yellow slime.
- Do not choose fish that are pale, feel slimy to the touch, and have an unpleasant odor when smelled.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Choose fruits that are bright red, with a smooth, shiny skin and the natural fragrance of tomatoes.
- Prioritize buying fruits with green, fresh stems that are firmly attached to the body of the tomato.
- Avoid selecting fruits that are bruised, scratched, or have unusual black spots on the surface!
How to choose fresh and delicious pineapples
- Delicious pineapples usually have a bright yellow color, with large eyes that smell fragrant.
- Fruits that are shorter and thicker tend to be riper and tastier than those that are long and slender.
- Avoid selecting fruits that are overripe, as they feel soft and mushy when touched, making them less tasty and possibly having a fermentation smell.
How to choose fresh and delicious okra
- Choose fruits that are light green, with a surface covered in soft hairs.
- You can check the tenderness of the okra by breaking off the tip; if it snaps easily, the okra is still tender, and you should buy it!
- Avoid buying fruits that are too mature, with visible seeds protruding on the surface and those that are scratched or bruised.
How to choose clean and safe bean sprouts
- Prioritize selecting bean sprouts that are bright white, have a balanced size, and are long and slender.
- It is advisable to buy from reputable vendors, with clear brand and origin.
- In addition, to ensure safety, you can also grow bean sprouts at home following the very simple guide from TasteVN.
How to make Sour Catfish Soup
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Prepare the fish
Clean the fish, cut it into bite-sized pieces, then soak it in salt water for about 15 minutes, after that rinse with clean water and drain in a basket.
How to clean fish to remove slime and odor
- To eliminate the fishy smell and remove slime, you can soak the fish in rice water for about 10 minutes and then rinse with clean water.
- Additionally, you can wash the fish with a mixture of alcohol or vinegar, soak for another 5 minutes, and then rinse with water.
- A simpler way is to wash the fish with fresh milk, soak for 10 minutes, and then rinse with clean water.
See details: 7 tips to easily and effectively remove the fishy smell
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Prepare other ingredients
Peel the garlic, wash it clean, then use a knife to crush and chop it finely. For the green onions, cut off the roots and any wilted leaves, wash them clean, and then chop them into small pieces. Remove the stem from the chili and slice it thinly.
Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and cut them into wedges. Wash the okra and cut it in half.
Peel the pineapple, remove the eyes, wash it clean, cut out the core, and then slice it thinly.
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Marinate the fish
To marinate the fish, place the fish on a plate, add 2 teaspoons of monosodium glutamate, 2 teaspoons of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, then rub the seasoning evenly over the fish and marinate for 15 minutes.
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Fry the fish
Place a pan on the stove, add in 100ml of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up and then add minced garlic to sauté until fragrant. After about 5 minutes of sautéing, when the garlic turns golden, carefully remove it to a bowl to set aside.
Reuse the oil from earlier to fry the fish, once the oil is hot, carefully drop the fish in and fry until both sides are golden, then remove to a plate.
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Cook the soup
Put a pot on the stove, add 600ml of water, wait for the water to boil then put 200gr of fermented rice into a sieve, then dip it into the water, use a spoon to stir gently so that the fermented rice does not mix into the soup.
Season with 2 teaspoons of seasoning powder, stir well then add 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, continue to boil until the water boils again, then add the okra, pineapple, catfish, tomato, scallions, bean sprouts, and cilantro gradually, adjust the seasoning to taste then turn off the stove.
Sprinkle sliced chili and fried garlic on top.
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Final product
The sour catfish soup has an eye-catching color with a rich flavor, a slight sourness from the fermented rice, fragrant, and tomatoes blending harmoniously with each other. The catfish is soft and fatty, blending with the sour taste makes it less greasy and more delicious, especially on rainy days.
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With just a few simple steps, you can easily succeed in making sour catfish soup that is sweet and sour, perfectly balanced to treat your beloved family during the weekend. Quickly save the recipe and share it so that many others can know!
