Tangy seafood stew recipe
Refreshing and loaded with seafood, vegetables and herbs, canh chua is a classic that evokes the bounty and easy-going rhythm of the Mekong Delta region. It's a bit like a Viet-style bouillabaisse seafood stew. It’s traditionally made with items such as tamarind, taro stem and rice paddy herb (ngò om), which require a trip to an Asian market. But this streamlined version, prepared with supermarket ingredients, is a knockout. For a one-dish meal, serve with warm corn or flour tortillas, or fried rice.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 6 cups water
- 1 tsp light or dark brown sugar, plus more as needed
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus more as needed
- 1.5 tbsp fish sauce, plus more as needed
- 0.5 tsp fine sea salt
- 227 g fresh or frozen pineapple chunks, cut into bite-size chunks
- 283 g mild-tasting, firm fish fillet, cut into 3.5cm/1.5in chunks
- 8 extra-large or 12 large prawns, with or without shells, deveined
- 227 g small clams or cockles
- 1 large celery stalks, cut on a sharp diagonal into 1cm/0.5in-wide pieces
- 1 large unripe tomato, cut into wedges
- 2 cups beansprouts
- 0.3 cups roughly chopped fresh herbs such as coriander (cilantro), Thai basil and mint
- 0.2 heaped tsp of ground cumin
- 1 jalapeño chilli, thinly sliced
Details
- Cuisine: Vietnamese
- Recipe Type: Seafood
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 25 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the vegetable oil and garlic, and cook at a gentle sizzle, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until the garlic is golden.
- Pour in the water to arrest the cooking, then add the brown sugar, pomegranate molasses, fish sauce, salt and pineapple.
- Turn the heat to high to bring to a fast simmer, adjust the heat to maintain that pace and cook for 8–10 minutes to develop flavour. If not serving right away, remove from the heat and cover. Return to a near boil before continuing.
- Add the fish fillet, prawns and clams to the pan and cook for 3–4 minutes, just until the fish is opaque, the prawn curls and the clams open.
- Add the celery and cook for about 2 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the tomato and beansprouts and cook for 1 minute more, until slightly softened, then turn off the heat.
- Add the herbs, cumin and chilli to the pan and then let sit for 5 minutes.
- Taste and, if needed, adjust the flavour with additional brown sugar, fish sauce or pomegranate molasses to arrive at a tart-sweet-savoury balance.
- Using a two-handed approach with a ladle in one hand and chopsticks or tongs in the other, transfer the soup to a large bowl or divide among individual soup bowls. Serve immediately.
Reprinted with permission from Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors by Andrea Nguyen, copyright © 2019. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Photography credit: Aubrie Pick © 2019.
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