What's special about Vietnam's rustic soup, which is in the top 10 best fish dishes in the world?

Sour fish soup ranked 3rd in the fish soup category.

The world- renowned food magazine TasteAtlat has updated its list of the 100 best fish dishes in the world, based on the ratings and votes of diners and culinary experts globally. Accordingly, Vietnamese sour fish soup ranks 3rd in the fish soup category, receiving a 4.5/5 star rating.

Sour fish soup refers to various types of Vietnamese fish soups, characterized by a combination of sweet, spicy, and sour flavors. The broth in sour fish soups is typically made with tamarind and combined with other ingredients such as pineapple, tomatoes, okra, bean sprouts, or other vegetables.

Common ingredients for making sour fish soup.

Most sour fish soups are made with catfish. Besides catfish, other types of fish such as carp, snakehead fish, eel, or salmon can also be used. These soups are often garnished with coriander for added aroma and are typically eaten with rice.

How to prepare authentic sour fish soup.

How to cook sour fish soup in the Northern Vietnamese style.

Ingredient:

+ Fresh fish weighing approximately 500g – 1kg

+ 1 green pineapple

+ 3 tomatoes

+ 100gr bean sprouts

+ 5 okra pods

+ 3 tamarind fruits

+ Chili peppers, onions, minced garlic, ginger, scallions, dill

+ Seasonings: cooking oil, salt, sugar, MSG, fish sauce

How to make sour fish soup

Step 1: Prepare the ingredients.

+ Clean the fish, cut it into pieces, then rub it with a little salt and lemon or rinse it with white wine to reduce the fishy smell. After that, marinate the fish with a little fish sauce, MSG, and minced garlic for about 10 minutes to absorb the flavors; this will make it taste better when cooked.

Peel and wash the ginger, then chop it finely. Cut the chili peppers in half, remove the seeds, wash them, and then chop them into small pieces. Pick out any wilted leaves from the onions and dill, wash them, and chop them finely. You can buy pre-peeled pineapple and cut it into small pieces. Soak the tamarind in hot water, then mash and strain to extract the juice. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges. Wash the okra and cut it diagonally.

Step 2: Proceed with cooking the sour fish soup.

Heat oil in a pan, then add garlic and sauté until fragrant, then set aside. Next, fry the fish on both sides until firm, and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the chopped shallots until fragrant. Add half of the tomatoes and stir-fry until they change color, then add the pineapple. After about 3 minutes, add enough water and tamarind juice to the pot and bring to a boil. When the water starts to bubble, add the fish and season with fish sauce, salt, and MSG. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let the fish cook through and absorb the flavors. Finally, add the sautéed tomatoes and pineapple along with the remaining tomatoes and continue cooking. After a few minutes, add the okra and cook for 2 minutes, then add the bean sprouts, half a tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, and chopped scallions to the pot.

After ladling the soup into a bowl, add a few slices of chili and enjoy it with white rice or noodles; both are delicious.

Southern-style sour fish soup

Ingredient

+ About 400 grams of pufferfish. You can also use catfish or pomfret; they taste better than pufferfish.

+ Along the mosquito net

+ 2 tomatoes

+ 6-8 okra pods

Bean sprouts

+ 1/8 pineapple

+ Coriander and dill

+ Seasonings: salt, MSG, sugar, 15ml good quality fish sauce

+ 15ml lemon or lime juice

Preparation method

- Wash the fish thoroughly with salt, then marinate it with a little fish sauce for 15 minutes. The fish should be cut into slightly thick pieces; this will prevent it from falling apart during cooking and make it tastier.

- Heat oil in a pan, sauté a little garlic until golden, then add pineapple and half a chopped tomato, stir-fry until softened, then pour in 1 liter of water and bring to a boil.

- Cook over medium heat. When the fish is about 60% cooked, add the taro stems (or mint) first, followed by the okra and the remaining tomatoes. Once everything is cooked through, add the bean sprouts and herbs. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat. The dish is complete. Pour the salty fish sauce into a small bowl, add the chopped chili peppers; transfer the fish to a plate and enjoy hot.

For Southern-style sour soup, note that you shouldn't sauté onions because the onion smell will overpower the distinctive aroma of the herbs. Also, there's no need to lightly fry the fish, as this will make the soup less refreshing due to the oil and the fish won't retain its original sweetness.

When adding salt to sour soup, be careful because salt also slightly enhances the sourness of the soup. If the soup is cooked with green vegetables (water spinach, jute mallow, etc.), add the sour seasoning just before turning off the heat to maintain their green color and prevent them from turning yellow.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/mon-canh-dan-da-cua-viet-nam-lot-top-10-mon-an-lam-tu-ca-ngon-nhat-the-gioi-co-gi-dac-biet-va-cach-che-bien-17224062822302977.htm