Vietnamese Hot and Sour Fish Soup

Visually beautiful, with red, dark green, and white cut shapes in a tamarind-dark broth; in taste, sour piquant offset by sweet fish and earthy okra--it's a sensational soup: appetite stimulating and totally, totally satisfying at the same time. Serve piping hot to 6 people as a first course or to 2-3 people as a meal.

•   1 cup raw rice slowly boiled with about 2 cups of water for 20-30 minutes (pot tightly covered)
•   1 pound fish fillets or steaks, cut into ¼-inch strips
•   2 green onions, thinly sliced
•   ½ teaspoon black pepper
•   1 Tablespoon fish sauce
•   6 Tablespoons tamarind concentrate dissolved in 6 Tablespoons hot water
•   5 cups fish stock
•   1 fresh tomato, skinned, (or 3 canned tomatoes that have been seeded), cut into thin wedges
•   2 small red bird chilies, thinly sliced
•   3 Tablespoons fish sauce 
•   1½ cups okra (fresh or frozen, but let the frozen defrost), sliced into rounds

Garnish: 1 cup mung bean sprouts; ¼ cup slightly chopped cilantro; 2 teaspoons hot pepper oil (which you can make by sautéing ¼ teaspoon dried hot peppers in 2 teaspoons of oil); and small lime wedges
Prepare the rice and set aside when done.
In a bowl, mix the scallion, black pepper, and 1 Tablespoon of fish sauce, then toss in the fish strips and let marinate for 15 minutes.
In another bowl, stir the tamarind concentrate into the hot water and let sit until ready to use.
In a large saucepan, bring the stock to a boil, then stir in the tamarind, the tomato wedges, the sliced chilies, and 3 Tablespoons of fish sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes, and then add the okra and fish. Simmer until the fish is done--about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the bean sprouts, cilantro, and chilies oil. Spoon rice portions equally into the bowls, then ladle the soup over each one and top with the lime wedges.

YUM!!!     I'm gonna try this with my next fish.  My mom used to make this soup with a kind of vegetable that has no english name.  Its the stalk of a plant, really spongy and thick.  Adds a nice crunchy texture.

OMG this sounds AWESOME!!!  I personally LOVE soup, its the most perfect food IMHO.  I make a mean Pho? myself.  I wanna give this a shot!  Curious though, cant you make the stock from the carcass instead of buying it?  Have a recipe for that?

Thanks!

OMG this sounds AWESOME!!!  I personally LOVE soup, its the most perfect food IMHO.  I make a mean Pho? myself.  I wanna give this a shot!  Curious though, cant you make the stock from the carcass instead of buying it?  Have a recipe for that?
Thanks!

Below is the recipe for fish stock.  You can also substitute fish stock with the vegetable stock.

Fish Stock (one quart)

    * 1 onion, chopped
    * 1 carrot, chopped
    * 1 stalk celery, with leaves, chopped
    * 4-5 cups water
    * twist of lemon peel
    * salt and white pepper
    * bay leaf
    * 1 to 1 and 1/2 lbs of fish trimmings, heads, and bones, even shrimp shells
    * optional: up to a cup of white wine

Slowly bring all ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan, skimming when necessary. Partially cover, and cook at a medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Freeze for later use if you wish.

NOTE: If you freeze the stock in ice cube trays, you can pop them into plastic bags and use as much or as little as you want at any time.

Basic Vegetable Stock (8 cups)

    * 5 carrots, chopped
    * 2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
    * 2 onions, chopped
    * 1 head garlic, unpeeled and cut in half
    * potato peelings (wash before peeling)
    * 1 turnip, sliced
    * Any wilted veggies in the fridge that aren't too strong, chopped
    * 1 bay leaf
    * 1 handful parsley
    * 1 teaspoon salt and peppercorns
    * 12 cups water

SF, you go to any culinary schools or something?!?  This looks perfect!!!  Thanks, I think I will try making some stock tonight with my fish form GMS!

Hey Sonny,

Thanks for the recipe, looks good, I've been wanting a good fish soup idea,


Dale

Hey Sonny,
Thanks for the recipe, looks good, I've been wanting a good fish soup idea,
Dale

Enjoy. Hope you guys like it.

was wondering how to avoid the "scum" associated with fish soups?  You know, it bubbles up and gets all brown and gooey.  I imagine it happens less with fillets than steaks, and rmoving the skin helps?

was wondering how to avoid the "scum" associated with fish soups?  You know, it bubbles up and gets all brown and gooey.  I imagine it happens less with fillets than steaks, and rmoving the skin helps?

Hi yakuza,

You can't avoid the "scum"  even if you're using fillets.  I use a soup spoon to gather the scum and clean the spoon in a bowl of water near by.  You only need to do this about 5 minutes after that the broth will be clear!

Sonny

Made some fish and chips last night and the fish stock at the same time.  Cant wait to finish the soup for dinner tonight!  Yummmmmmmmm! 

Just have to find a place that sells the tamarinde concentrate (will hit up my local Lion's).  I also wasn't sure what the red bird chilies are?  Is that also called a Thai pepper?  I do have some dried Japones in the cupboard, could I use those?

Made some fish and chips last night and the fish stock at the same time.  Cant wait to finish the soup for dinner tonight!  Yummmmmmmmm! 
Just have to find a place that sells the tamarind concentrate (will hit up my local Lion's).  I also wasn't sure what the red bird chilies are?  Is that also called a Thai pepper?  I do have some dried Japones in the cupboard, could I use those?

Yes, it's Thai Chillies (very hot) as I love HOT & SPICY stuffs  but you can use any other types of chillies depend on your "HOT & SPICY tolerance".  As for the tamarind concentrate, if you can't find it then use lemon juice or leaves.

Thanks, I'm making it this weekend.

mmm im drooling...btw a well made hot and sour soup like this is pure medicine when suffering from a cold or the flu.

Sailfish:

I was down in the OC cruising the market with my mom when i came across this ready to eat kit for the soup.  Anyone seen one of these around up here?  Oh, and I confirmed the spongy thing is chopped up sections of taro stalk.  Major yum, just add fish and season to taste.

We made this soup for a memorial day bbq. It was very good.