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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Catfish cooked in sour soup is rich, sour, spicy, and sweet, definitely making your family fall in love with it, becoming a favorite dish in the daily menu. Let’s get cooking with Tastetutorial.com to make this incredibly attractive soup dish to treat your loved ones!
Ingredients for Catfish cooked in sour soup Serves 3
Catfish 3 fish (1.2kg) Shallots 4 bulbs Young tamarind leaves 300 gr Garlic 3 cloves Tomatoes 3 fruits Seasoning herbs a little (basil/ Vietnamese coriander/ cilantro/ scallions) Fermented vinegar 100 ml Fish sauce 2 tablespoons Cooking oil 50 ml Chili powder 1/2 teaspoon Pink salt 1 teaspoon Rock sugar 1/2 tablespoon Seasoning powder/ ground pepper a little
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh catfish
- Fresh catfish usually has shiny scales that stick tightly to the body of the fish.
- When smelling, it should have a fragrant sea water scent and clear, slightly bulging eyes.
- Prioritize fish that feel firm and elastic when held.
How to choose fresh and delicious young tamarind leaves
- You should choose fresh tamarind leaves, light green in color and not torn or bruised.
- For the best flavor, prioritize selecting leaves that are still attached to the branch, and when cooking, pluck them off, wash them clean, and then add them.
- Do not choose mature tamarind leaves that are dark green, as they will not have much sourness and will not taste good when cooked.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Good tomatoes usually have a bright red color, a smooth, shiny surface, and when smelled, they give off a distinct fragrant aroma.
- In addition, prioritize selecting tomatoes with fresh green stems that are tightly attached to the body.
- Do not select those that are bruised or have many unusual black spots on the surface.
How to prepare sour tamarind fish
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Prepare other ingredients
Peel and clean shallots and garlic, then finely chop. Carefully pluck the young tamarind leaves, wash them clean, and place them in a basket to drain.
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into wedges. Pick the leaves from the herbs, wash them clean, and chop finely.
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Preparation and Marinating Fish
To eliminate the fishy smell of the fish, you should wash the fish with vinegar for about 10 minutes, scrubbing hard to remove the sliminess of the fish. Continue rinsing the fish under the tap water for a better cleaning and to remove the fishy smell!
Next, cut the fish into pieces about 3 finger lengths long, carefully use a knife to fillet the fish to remove the backbone.
Effective Ways to Eliminate Fishy Smell
- To remove the fishy smell, you can use white wine to wash the fish, soak it for about 10 minutes, then rinse it clean with water.
- Additionally, you can also use salt to scrub the surface and then rinse with water.
- Another effective method to eliminate the fishy smell is to soak the fish in rice water for 10 – 15 minutes, then take it out and rinse it clean.
See details: 7 tips to easily and effectively eliminate fishy smell
To marinate the fish, add about 1/2 of the chopped shallots, 1 teaspoon of pink salt (or regular salt), 1 tablespoon of seasoning, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder. Mix well so that the fish absorbs the spices, and marinate for 30 minutes.
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Cooking soup
Place a pot on the stove, add 50ml of cooking oil, wait for the oil to heat up, then add minced garlic, stir until the garlic turns golden brown, then add tomatoes and stir well.
After frying for about 3 minutes, when the tomatoes are soft, add the fish and continue to stir until the fish is gradually firmed up for 7 – 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, when the fish is cooked and absorbed the seasoning, pour in 1.5 liters of water, add 1/2 tablespoon of rock sugar. Simmer for another 5 minutes, adjust the seasoning to suit your family’s taste, then add tamarind leaves and herbs, turn off the heat.
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Final Product
Delicious and flavorful sour soup with snakehead fish, suitable to be served with fresh noodles or white rice, dipping with a bit of fish sauce makes it absolutely delightful.
The broth is rich, harmoniously blending sour, spicy, salty, and sweet, with soft and fatty fish along with sour tamarind leaves being the wonderful highlight of this dish.
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With detailed instructions from Tastetutorial.com, you can surely successfully make the sour soup with snakehead fish that is delicious and uniquely appealing. Be quick to save and share so that many people can know!
