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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
40 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Fish cooked with sour plums, with a sweet and sour taste, will definitely be one of the dishes that helps you impress your friends and family! Let’s “roll up our sleeves” with TasteVN into the kitchen and make this delicious, attractive, easy-to-make braised dish right away!
Ingredients for Fish cooked with sour plums For 4 people
Fresh fish 400 gr (any type of fish according to preference) Sour plums 100 gr Shallots 4 bulbs (chopped) Ginger 1/2 bulb (chopped) Chili 1 piece (sliced) Spring onions 1 stalk (chopped) Fish sauce 1 teaspoon Vinegar a little Common spices a little (sugar/salt/pepper) Cooking oil 1 tablespoon
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh fish
- For stewed dishes, you should choose fish that are meaty, fatty, and have few bones (such as grouper, catfish, mackerel, tuna,…) so that when stewed, the fish will be tender, fatty, and more delicious.
- You should prefer wild-caught fish instead of farmed fish; the meat will be sweeter, firmer, and less fishy.
- Press your hand into the fish flesh; if it feels elastic, moderately soft, not too hard or too soft, then you should buy it.
- If buying whole fish, look for bright, clear eyes, bright red gills, and shiny skin.
- If buying pre-cut fish, choose pieces with firm flesh, still showing fresh blood, not clumped, and with clear striations visible on the fish flesh.
See details: How to choose fresh, delicious fish
How to choose fresh sour plum
- You can find fresh sour plums at large markets, supermarkets, or on reputable e-commerce sites.
- You should choose ripe sour plums with slightly rough skin, bright green color, and thick flesh, without bruises or blemishes, as overripe sour plums have very little flesh.
- You should avoid choosing immature sour plums with smooth skin or any that are bruised or showing signs of spoilage.
- To buy delicious sour plums, you should do so when they are in season, typically from June to September each year.
- Depending on the time, the price of sour plums may vary.
- Fresh sour plums with skin are currently sold at 50,000 – 60,000 VND/kg. Peeled sour plums are priced at about 70,000 VND/kg (price updated as of July 2021).
See more: The wonderful effects of sour plum
Tools needed
Clay pot, knife, bowl, spoon, chopsticks,…
How to make sour braised fish
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Prepare and marinate the fish
To eliminate the fishy smell and slime of the fish, after purchasing, you should rub the fish with some salt and vinegar for about 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with water and let it drain.
Next, use a knife to cut the fish into small, bite-sized pieces.
Effective ways to eliminate the fishy smell
- You can soak the fish in rice water for about 15 – 20 minutes, then take it out and rinse it again, which helps remove the fishy smell completely.
- Rubbing salt around the fish and then rinsing it with water also helps to eliminate the fishy smell and any dirt stuck to the fish.
See details: 7 ways to easily and effectively eliminate the fishy smell.
Marinate the fish with 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, and all the chopped shallots, minced ginger, and sliced chili.
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Prepare other ingredients
After buying sour fruits, you use a knife to scrape off the bitter outer skin, then rinse several times with water.
Next, you take a knife to cut the sour fruits in half.
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Stew the fish
Put 2 teaspoons of sugar into a pot, then turn on medium heat and stir continuously until the sugar melts and turns golden brown, then quickly add the marinated fish and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.
Stir well until the fish is cooked and turns a beautiful golden brown.
Next, add 1/2 cup of hot water and all the sour fruits into the pot. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 – 15 minutes.
After 10 minutes, open the pot lid, flip the fish, season to taste, then cover and stew for another 10 – 15 minutes until the fish absorbs the seasoning and the liquid in the pot thickens, then turn off the heat.
Tip: For this dish, you should only stew for about 20 – 30 minutes to ensure the fish and sour fruits have enough time to cook soft and absorb the seasoning. Avoid stewing too long as it will make the ingredients mushy and unappetizing.
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Final Product
Arrange the fish on a plate, sprinkle some finely chopped green onions and sliced chili on top, and decorate it nicely to complete.
The braised fish with sour tamarind has an eye-catching color. The fish meat is tender, fragrant, and combined with the sour and rich taste of tamarind stimulates the taste buds immensely.
This dish goes wonderfully with hot rice and a bit of boiled vegetables!
See more
Hope that with the recipe that Dien May XANH introduces to you today, you can successfully make the sour fish stew that is rich and goes well with rice. Wishing you success!
