Vietnamese Sour Soup Canh Chua Recipes

VIETNAMESE SWEET & SOUR SOUP (CANH CHUA)

Steps:

• Add pork to a large soup pot. Cover with water until it just covers the pork. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Take out the pork and then throw away the water. This process cleans the pork. Rinse the pot and add the pork back. Cover the pork with fresh water until it just covers the meat. Bring to a boil.
• Add the onion and simmer for 1.5 hours. Make sure to check every 30 minutes for impurities. Scoop away any you see.
• While the soup is simmering, combine 1 cup of water and tamarind in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until the tamarind dissolves.You can help speed up the process by using the back of a spoon to crush the tamarind. Pour the tamarind through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl. Set aside.
• After simmering the soup for 1.5 hours, add the pineapple and ginger to the soup. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
• Put the catfish in and simmer for another 10 minutes until it is cooked through.
• Lastly, add the vegetables and tamarind from step 3. Bring the soup to a boil and serve with a side of white rice. Make sure to taste the soup for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland.

VIETNAMESE SWEET & SOUR SOUP WITH SALMON (CANH CHUA)

Steps:

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the salmon to the boiling water and cook for 5 seconds. Take the salmon out and set aside. This will get rid of the unsavory fishy flavors in the salmon.
• Bring water and chicken stock to a boil. Add in the salmon, tamarind soup mix, fish sauce, celery, red pepper, green onions, tomatoes, canned pineapple, and okra. Cook for 5 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.
• Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Add some salt if it tastes bland. If it is too salty, add some sugar to balance it out.
• Top with cilantro and serve.

VIETNAMESE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Medium pot, heat oil over medium high heat, add diced onions. Saute until tender, stirring often, about 4 - 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, and mushrooms.
• Saute until mushrooms are just tender, about 3-4 more minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Saute until tomatoes begin to melt, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add stock and soy sauce (optional). Add tofu and tamarind paste ( or lime juice). Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Taste for balance. Add salt to taste.
• Serve in a bowls with chopped cilantro and chives and chili flakes.
• Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as a starter.

VIETNAMESE SOUR SOUP (CANH CHUA)

Steps:

• Heat up a pot of water and bring it to a boil.
• Meanwhile, add 3 tbsp oil to a saucepan and brown the garlic on low heat for 5 minutes or until golden. Set aside for later.
• With the water boiling, season it with the tamarind powder, chicken bouillon powder, sugar and fish sauce. Bring the heat to a simmer as you prepare the fresh ingredients.
• Chop the pineapple into 4cm (1.6") long chunks.
• Cut the elephant ear plants into 4cm (1.6") long segments by slicing diagonally.
• Cut the okra in half using a diagonal slice.
• Cut the tomatoes into thick wedges.
• Finely chop the rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander.
• Heat up a wok on high heat and add 4 tbsp oil in. Lower the heat to medium and brown the garlic for 30 seconds.
• Turn the heat back to high and add the fish steaks in to sear on both sides for 3 minutes each side.
• Bring the pot of seasoned water back to a boil and pour the fish and garlic in.
• Add the pineapple, elephant ear plant, okra, tomatoes and browned garlic to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Serve as is garnished with fried garlic, rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander. Pour a small dish of fish sauce to use as a dip!

VIETNAMESE SWEET & SOUR SHRIMP SOUP WITH PINEAPPLE (CANH CHUA TOM NAU THOM)

Steps:

• Prep the ingredients: Devein the shrimp by inserting a toothpick underneath the vein and between the shells. Pull up to remove. Give the shrimp a quick rinse, if needed. Peel and finely dice the garlic cloves. Cut the pineapples into small bite-size chunks. If using large okra, halve at a diagonal. Otherwise, leave okra whole. Quarter the tomatoes. Set everything aside.
• In a medium-size pot, heat oil on medium-high. Add garlic and fry until golden brown. Set aside half of the fried garlic for garnish. Add chicken stock to the pot with the remaining garlic and bring the pot to a boil.
• Add tamarind pulp to a mesh strainer and lower it into the stockpot. Use the back of a spoon to help push the pulp through the strainer. Discard remains.
• Season stock with salt, fish sauce, and sugar to taste.
• Add shrimp. When shrimp start to turn color, add okra and pineapple. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Lastly, add tomatoes and immediately turn off the heat.
• Garnish soup with fried garlic from earlier, Thai chili peppers, and either rice paddy herbs, Thai basil, culantro, or cilantro. Serve with steamed rice and one of the following traditional Vietnamese protein dishes for a complete meal.