-
Preparation
20 minutes
-
Cooking
15 minutes
-
Difficulty
Easy
Summer is coming, have you thought of a dish to cool down on those hot summer days? Today, TasteVN will share with you a delicious and refreshing sour fish soup recipe using snakehead fish to treat your family! Let’s get cooking to make this soup!
Ingredients for Sour Snakehead Fish Soup Serves 2
Snakehead fish meat 300 gr Water spinach 200 gr Lotus stem 200 gr Okra 5 pieces Pineapple 1/2 piece (ananas) Tomato 2 pieces Chopped green onion 2 stalks Herbs a little (coriander/ Vietnamese balm/ basil) Bean sprouts 10 gr Minced garlic 4 cloves Chopped chili 1 piece Minced shallot 1 bulb Tamarind 2 tablespoons Rock sugar 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Cooking oil 4 tablespoons Common seasoning a little (salt/ seasoning powder/ pepper)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh snakehead fish
For live fish:
- You should choose fish that are still swimming vigorously, with bright red gills.
- It is advisable to choose male fish, as they have more meat that is easier to scrape off.
- Do not buy fish that are dead, have a rotten smell, or cloudy eyes.
For pre-processed fish:
- Fresh snakehead fish meat usually appears clear, with a white color interspersed with pale pink and no blood clots. When scraped, the fish should have a nice sheen, not dull or greenish, should not smell fishy, and should not be slimy.
- Additionally, you should buy fish from reputable places to ensure quality.
You can buy fresh fish to process and grind, or buy pre-ground fish for convenience.
How to choose fresh tomatoes
- You should choose tomatoes that are bright red and evenly colored, with a firm, plump skin, ripe tomatoes that have a natural fragrance.
- Do not buy tomatoes that are ripe but have no aroma, as these may have been injected with ripening agents, making them unsafe for consumption, or those that are scratched or bruised.
How to choose fresh pineapples
- Choose pineapples that are visually appealing with a bright yellow color, sometimes with some green spots, indicating they are ripe and delicious.
- Choose those with large eyes, as these are naturally ripe fruits, and when peeling – removing the eyes will not waste much flesh.
- When you touch them, you should feel a moderate softness, and the skin of ripe pineapples is usually slightly wrinkled.
- Do not buy those that feel sunken when pressed, which means the pineapple is overripe.
How to make sour fish soup with snakehead fish
-
Marinate the fish cake
First, place the snakehead fish meat you bought into a bowl, then add 1-2 teaspoons of seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of rock sugar, 2 teaspoons of ground pepper, 1/4 tablespoon of fish sauce, 2 finely chopped green onions, 1 teaspoon of minced shallots, and 1/2 teaspoon of minced chili.
Then use a spoon to mash and mix the fish cake so that it absorbs the seasoning evenly. Next, cover the bowl of fish cake with plastic wrap and marinate for 15 minutes.
Tip: For this fish cake, you need to knead it evenly for as long as possible to help the fish cake achieve a smooth and chewy texture, preventing it from breaking apart when cooked.
-
Prepare other ingredients
For the water lily, peel off the outer skin, then wash it several times with water, and cut it into pieces about 2 finger lengths. For the water spinach, pick the young parts, wash thoroughly, and drain. Rinse the bean sprouts and let them drain, and wash and chop the herbs.
Wash the okra, cut off the ends, and slice diagonally into pieces about 2 finger lengths. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges. For the pineapple, peel it, wash it, and cut it into small pieces.
-
Fry the fish cake
Heat the pan and add about 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, then add 4 minced garlic cloves and sauté until fragrant, then remove the garlic from the oil.
Wear plastic gloves, take a little fish paste and flatten it, then place it in the pan with the previously fried garlic, frying until golden on both sides over low heat; continue frying the remaining half of the fish.
Tip:- To prevent the fish from sticking to the gloves and to make shaping easier, you should apply a little cooking oil on the gloves!
- When frying the fish, fry on low heat so that the fish cooks evenly from the inside out.
Finally, cut the fish cake into bite-sized pieces!
-
Cook sour soup
You put 1 liter of boiling water on the stove, then add chopped pineapple, 1.5 tablespoons of rock sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste into the ladle to put into the boiling pot so that the tamarind dissolves; discard the tamarind residue!
Next, add 2 tablespoons of seasoning powder and 1 teaspoon of salt; when the water is boiling vigorously, shape half of the marinated fish into balls and cook for 5 minutes.
Then add okra, tomatoes, water lily, and water spinach to cook for about 2 minutes, then add the fried fish cakes and bean sprouts, plus 1 tablespoon of fish sauce; adjust the seasoning to taste according to your family’s preference.
Finally, add the chopped herbs and 1 chopped chili, then turn off the stove!
-
Final product
Serve the snakehead fish sour soup in a bowl, add some fried garlic, and enjoy!
The sour soup is rich, with a balanced sweet and sour taste, the snakehead fish is chewy and not fishy, while the water spinach and water lily are just cooked. The dish will be more delicious if served with hot rice!
Sour snakehead fish soup is both delicious and easy to make, right? Let’s get into the kitchen and cook this delicious dish for your family. Wishing you success!
*Refer to the recipe and images from the YouTube channel Delicious Dishes
