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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ngat fish sour soup is a rustic dish of the Southwestern people, made with the sour mangrove fruit that has a very unique taste and the sweet fragrant flavor of ngat fish. Let’s get cooking to learn how to make this soup right away!
Ingredients for Ngat Fish Sour Soup For 4 people
Ngat fish 400 gr Mangrove 150 gr (dọc mùng) Okra 100 gr Mangrove fruit 3 fruits Pineapple 150 gr (thơm/khóm) Tomato 2 fruits Bean sprouts 100 gr Minced shallots 1 tablespoon Herbs a little Cooking oil 3 tablespoons Chili 1 fruit Fish sauce 1 tablespoon Common seasoning a little (sugar/salt/seasoning powder)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh ngat fish
- It is best to choose live ngat fish to ensure the meat is delicious and not flaky.
- Choose fish that are intact, without scratches or scales missing, with a plump body and a head that is proportional to the body.
What is the mangrove fruit? Where to buy mangrove fruit?
- The mangrove tree is a common species in the southwestern provinces, which helps to retain soil, block waves, and prevent erosion along rivers and canals….
- The mangrove fruit is large, round, slightly flattened, and has a sour taste, often used to cook sour soup or eaten raw with various types of fish sauce.
- The mangrove fruit is very popular in the West, but it is very difficult to buy in other provinces and cities. You should choose stores, large markets, or reputable online sites to buy mangrove fruit!
How to choose fresh and delicious okra
- Choose fresh, young, soft okra pods that are small in size. Avoid choosing large pods as they are older and not tasty.
- You should not choose okra that is soft or has blemishes on the outside.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Choose tomatoes with bright red, even skin that are not scratched, bruised, or have unusual spots.
- Ripe and fresh tomatoes usually have a green stem that is firmly attached to the tomato.
How to choose a good pineapple
- Choose fruits with evenly bright yellow color, fragrant smell, and a fresh crown.
- It is better to choose round-shaped fruits rather than elongated ones as round ones have more flesh.
- Avoid buying fruits that are too green or unevenly colored, have soft bodies, or have a foul smell.
How to Cook Catfish in Sour Soup
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Prepare the catfish
The catfish has 2 sharp spines that are poisonous, so when preparing it, be sure to cut off the spines.
Then clean the gills, trim the whiskers, use salt to rub the skin of the fish, and rinse it well with water. After that, cut the fish into bite-sized pieces.
How to Eliminate the Fishy Smell of Catfish: Before cutting the fish into pieces, you can mix a little ginger and white wine in an appropriate ratio, then rub it evenly over all sides of the fish and rinse it again with clean water. This will significantly reduce the fishy smell and remove all the slime from the fish.
See details: How to eliminate the fishy smell of catfish
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Prepare other ingredients
Mint purchased should be cleaned and sliced into thin rings.
How to prepare mint (dong mung) to avoid itching:
- Wash the mint plant to remove any dirt. Peel off the outer fibrous part. Then scoop out all the insides of the mint (the curved part inside).
- Next, cut the mint into diagonal pieces to taste, place in a bowl or basin, sprinkle a tablespoon of salt over it, and mix well. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
- Add cold water to the bowl of salted mint, rinse well, and gently squeeze to reduce water. Repeat this process twice, then soak and rinse several times with cold water to ensure that it won’t itch.
Bean sprouts, okra, tomatoes, pineapple, and herbs washed clean.
Okra cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces or left whole depending on the family’s preference. Chili chopped finely.
Tomatoes cut into wedges, making 6 or 8 depending on the size of the tomato. Pineapple sliced into thin pieces for easy eating. Herbs chopped into small pieces for easy eating.
Wood apple washed clean, peeled.
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Cook the soup
Place a pan on the stove, wait for the pan to heat up, then add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil and heat. Next, add chopped shallots and sauté until fragrant.
Then, add about 1.5 liters of water (about 1.5 bowls of water) and bring to a boil.
After that, add the wood apple and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes, when the wood apple is just cooked, remove it.
Next, add the pineapple and fish to cook for about 10 – 15 minutes until the fish is cooked.
Tip: While cooking, taste to see if the broth has the desired sourness. If not, continue to add the wood apple into a sieve and put it into the pot to release more sourness.
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Add the ingredients to cook the soup
After the fish is cooked, take the fish out onto a plate, set it aside, and gradually add tomatoes, okra, mint, and bean sprouts to cook for about 3 – 5 minutes.
Season the soup with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate. Adjust according to your family’s taste.
After the soup is cooked, add herbs and chili, then turn off the heat.
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Final product
The sour soup is rich, with a light sourness from the mangrove apple combined with the sweet taste of the fish, which is rich and fatty, without any fishy smell.
When eating, dip it with spicy fish sauce along with a bowl of hot rice, it truly is an incredibly rustic dish that is also very delicious and appealing!
What kind of fish is Ngat fish?
- Ngat fish belongs to the catfish family, has a sweet taste, and is of a neutral nature. Therefore, Ngat fish has a shape similar to catfish, with a flat tail and smooth skin. However, compared to catfish, Ngat fish is larger, has a black color, and has more whiskers.
- Ngat fish has two sharp, hard spines beside its gills and concentrates venom in the spine. This venom is quite dangerous and can even be fatal, so when processing the fish, it is important to be careful not to get stabbed by the fish’s spine.
See more:
Above is the recipe for the dish Ngat fish sour soup, which is extremely rustic and delicious. It’s easy to make, isn’t it? Let’s go to the kitchen to treat our family to delicious dishes!
*Refer to images and recipes from the YouTube channel Nét Quê
