Intimate and cozy parties with family and friends will surely be more enjoyable and flavorful if there are delicious hot pot dishes. Today, let’s cook with TasteVN to explore 2 extremely attractive recipes for sour bamboo shoot and snakehead fish hot pot!
1. Sour bamboo shoot snakehead fish hot pot
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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
45 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Sour bamboo shoot snakehead fish hot pot Serves 4 people
Vermicelli 1 kg Snakehead fish 1 fish Pineapple 1/4 fruit (pineapple) Tomato 3 fruits Horn chili 3 fruits Red onion 10 bulbs Lemongrass 4 stalks Garlic 3 cloves Fresh herbs for garnish 1 kg (green onion/ water spinach/ chives/ banana flower/ water morning glory) Sour bamboo shoots 100 gr Fresh coconut water 1 liter Satay 2 teaspoons White wine 1 tablespoon Kumquat 5 fruits Cilantro 2 stalks Fish sauce 1.5 tablespoons Cooking oil 100 ml Common spices a little (sugar/ seasoning powder/ pepper/ salt)
How to choose delicious sour bamboo shoots
- When buying bamboo shoots, you should choose those with light yellow skin, a characteristic aroma, and no surface scum.
- Additionally, the bamboo shoots that are not soaked in chemicals should not be overly shiny and do not look appealing.
- You should not choose sour bamboo shoots that have a foul smell, an unusual outer skin color such as too white or brownish-yellow, or a surface that is spotted or mushy.
- Moreover, if you have time, you can easily make sour bamboo shoots at home following the recipe from TasteVN.
How to prepare Fish hotpot with sour bamboo shoots
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Prepare the fish
You rinse the fish with water, cut off the fins, gills, tail, and scrape off the scales. Then, place the fish in a large bowl and rub 1 teaspoon of salt evenly over the entire body and belly of the fish.
After that, rinse the fish again with clean water 2-3 times, cut into bite-sized pieces, and let drain.
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Prepare other ingredients
Sour bamboo shoots are washed clean with 2 – 3 times of water, then blanched in boiling water for about 3 minutes. To keep the bamboo shoots crunchy, prepare a bowl of cold water, soak the bamboo shoots for about 10 minutes, then take them out and let them drain.
Lemongrass is cleaned, smashed, and cut into sections. Remove the stems from the chili peppers and slice them. Coriander is cut at the root, washed clean, and chopped finely.
The pineapple is cored, washed clean, and sliced thinly. The tomatoes are cored, washed clean, and cut into wedges.
For the accompanying vegetables, wash clean, and remove the roots of the spring onions and chives. Water spinach should have its outer foam layer removed, washed clean, and cut into segments about the length of a finger.
2 shallots, 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced.
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Stir-fry the ingredients
Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pan, when the oil is hot, add the minced shallots and garlic to sauté until fragrant. When the shallots and garlic turn golden, add lemongrass, chili, and pineapple to stir-fry until fragrant.
To give the hotpot broth a spicy flavor and beautiful color, add 2 teaspoons of chili paste to the pan and continue to stir well.
Tip: To suit the taste of the whole family, you can adjust the amount of chili paste accordingly!
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Sautéing Red Onions
You peel 8 remaining red onions and then slice them lengthwise. To prevent the onions from being pungent and bitter after sautéing, you marinate the onions with 1 tablespoon of white wine for 10 minutes.
You pour 8 tablespoons of cooking oil into the pan, when the oil is hot, add the red onions and sauté until fragrant. When the onions turn a light yellow color, quickly turn off the heat and stir for another minute, then strain the onions through a sieve to remove the oil.
How to Sauté Crispy and Delicious Red Onions- To make the onions crispy and fragrant, you should use an aluminum pan for stable heat while sautéing the onions.
- Using salt helps the onions crisp up quickly, stabilizes the temperature of the onions, and adding a little flour keeps the onions thick and intact.
- To ensure even crispiness, you should divide the onions into small portions for sautéing.
- To keep the onions crispy and not fall apart, during the sautéing process, do not stir too much, after about 10 – 12 minutes when the onions float on the surface of the oil, then stir the onions.
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Mixing the seasoning
You add 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of seasoning, and 1.5 tablespoons of fish sauce into the calamansi juice and stir well until the sugar dissolves.
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Cooking the hot pot
You cook 1 liter of coconut water with 200ml of water on the stove, when the coconut water boils, you add the sautéed ingredients and continue cooking until it boils again.
Then, you add the entire mixed seasoning and stir well.
You arrange the ingredients in the pot, gently pour the broth in, and garnish the top with cilantro, fried shallots, and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
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Final dish
Each piece of snakehead fish is firm and placed into the broth, the natural sweetness of the fish spreads, making the hot pot even more delicious.
The hotpot broth has boiled vigorously, all ingredients are fresh, poured into a bowl with just enough noodles and served with various leafy vegetables that are dipped just right, crunchy, dipped in chili fish sauce, it must be called “top-notch”.
2. Fragrant snakehead fish hot pot
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
40 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Fragrant snakehead fish hot pot Serves 4
Snakehead fish 1 fish Pineapple 1/2 fruit (pineapple) Kumquat 6 fruits Mint 100 gr Okra 100 gr Bean sprouts 100 gr Tomato 1 fruit Garlic 6 cloves Herbs a little (cilantro/cilantro stalk) Fish sauce 5 tablespoons Cooking oil a little Common spices a little (salt/msg/seasoning powder/sugar) Fresh noodles 1 kg (or 5 packs of instant noodles)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh okra
- You should choose those that have a light green color and a nice shine. If you touch the surface of the okra, you will feel the thin, soft fuzz.
- Additionally, when you gently squeeze the young okra, you will feel it is soft, and you do not see the seeds bulging out.
- You should choose smaller or medium-sized okra, as long okra tends to be mature, which makes it fibrous and not tasty.
How to choose fresh bean sprouts
- When buying bean sprouts, you should choose those that are less thick and uneven because sprouts with thick, consistent stems are those that have been soaked in chemicals.
- When buying, you should choose curved, non-shiny bean sprouts as these are naturally grown.
- You should not choose bean sprouts that have an unusual length as they may have been treated with chemicals or soaked in substances.
- Additionally, to ensure food safety, you can also refer to the simple way of making bean sprouts at home from TasteVN.
How to make fragrant Snakehead Fish Hotpot
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Prepare and marinate snakehead fish
After purchasing the snakehead fish, clean the scales, then rub the fish flesh with a little salt for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, rinse the fish with clean water, then use a knife to cut it into small pieces and place it into a bowl.
Next, marinate the fish with 1/2 spoon of sugar, 1/2 spoon of salt, 1/2 spoon of seasoning salt, 1/2 spoon of monosodium glutamate, and 5 tablespoons of fish sauce.
Cover the bowl of fish with plastic wrap and marinate the fish for about 30 minutes.
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Prepare other ingredients
First, peel the pineapple, wash it with water, then cut it into bite-sized pieces. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, and cut them into wedges.
For the mint, remove the outer skin and wash it with water, then use a knife to cut it diagonally into small pieces.
Next, wash the coriander and sawtooth coriander with water. Wash the okra, remove the stems, and cut them diagonally into small pieces.
Then, peel the garlic and crush it. Squeeze the juice of 6 calamondins into a clean bowl to get the juice, discarding the seeds.
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Lightly fry the snakehead fish
Place a pan on the stove, add a little cooking oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the prepared garlic and fry until fragrant.
Once the garlic is golden and aromatic, add the pieces of snakehead fish to the pan and fry on low heat. Fry for about 10 minutes until the fish is golden on both sides.
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Cook the hot pot broth
Add 1.5 liters of water to the pot and place it on the stove to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the lime water to the pot and stir well.
Next, season the hot pot broth with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of seasoning powder.
Then, add the prepared pineapple to the pot and continue to let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, add the fried snakehead fish to the hot pot broth, and let it boil for another 5 – 10 minutes to finish.
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Completion
Place the fish and hot pot broth on a small stove to keep the broth hot while eating. When the broth is boiling, add tomatoes and bean sprouts to the stove.
Finally, you just need to add mint, okra, and various herbs to your liking, and you can enjoy the hot pot with fresh vermicelli.
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Final product
The fragrant snakehead fish hotpot when completed will have a sweet and light broth seasoned to taste, with tender snakehead fish, marinated well. Eating the hotpot with various herbs will enhance the unique flavor of the dish, incredibly delicious!
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh snakehead fish
- The freshest snakehead fish is when you can buy live fish, swimming vigorously, with clear eyes, pink gills, shiny scales, and skin without unusual colors.
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The scales of the fish cling tightly to the body, are bright and do not leak fluid. The scales are layered closely like roof tiles.
- The fish meat is firm, tightly bonded, not loose, and has high elasticity.
- Additionally, if you notice any unusual signs such as bloating, weak swimming, or pale color, you should not choose to buy it.
How to choose fresh pineapple
- The fruit shape is slightly round and short, usually with more flesh.
- The skin is uniformly colored, with yellow color and emits a fragrant smell indicating that the pineapple is ripe.
- When held, it feels heavy and firm, not soft or mushy when pressed.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Naturally ripe tomatoes have a taut, plump skin and a bright red color. If you look closely, you will see specks of pulp through the skin. When cut open, the flesh is bright red and contains a lot of pulp and white seeds.
- You should choose firm tomatoes; avoid those that are soft as they spoil quickly.
- If the stem of the tomato is fresh green and tightly attached to the body, it means the fruit has ripened naturally.
- Compared to naturally ripe tomatoes, chemically treated tomatoes usually lack fragrance, are not red, and are quite hard. When cooked, they break down very slowly, have little pulp, and a pale red color.
How to clean snakehead fish without a fishy smell
- After purchasing snakehead fish, you can wash it with diluted salt water, which helps clean and eliminate the fishy smell.
- Alternatively, wash the fish with a mixture of salt and lemon, rubbing the entire piece of fish meat to effectively remove sliminess, dirt, and fishy odor.
How to peel pineapple quickly without cutting out the eyes
- First, cut the pineapple vertically from top to bottom into 4 equal parts.
- Continue to slice along the length of each piece, stopping at the end of the fruit and cutting firmly to separate the flesh from the skin.
- Avoid cutting too close to the skin to prevent leaving any eyes on the pineapple. Finally, cut into small pieces as needed.
Hope that with the 2 ways to make sour bamboo shoot fish hot pot that TasteVN has shared, your family party will be more diverse, delicious, and appealing. Wishing you success in your cooking!
