Canh Chua - Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Fish Soup
The sourness traditionally comes from tamarind; here it comes from pineapple and lime. A clear soup in which fish, okra and tomato steep for only a few minutes.
Why this dish is good for you
143 calories per serving with almost 20 g of protein - a ratio few warm dishes reach. The pineapple brings bromelain and plenty of vitamin C, heated only briefly here. Cod supplies iodine and selenium.
Ingredients
- Cod(in large pieces)400 g
- Pineapple(fresh, in chunks - stands in for the tamarind)200 g
- Tomatoes(in wedges)250 g
- Okra(cut on the diagonal)100 g
- Fish sauce18 g
- Lime juice(off the heat)40 g
- Sugar10 g
- Chilli8 g
- Basil(traditionally rice paddy herb)20 g
- Water1200 g
Method
- 1
Put the water on with pineapple, sugar and fish sauce and simmer for five minutes so the pineapple gives up its acidity.
- 2
Add the tomatoes and okra and cook for three minutes.
- 3
Lower the heat, slide in the fish and poach for six minutes - the soup must not bubble any more.
- 4
Take the pot off the heat and stir in lime juice and chilli.
- 5
Add the basil leaves only in the bowl. Serve with rice.
🍍 Warum Ananas die Tamarinde ersetzen kann
Both bring fruit acids that behave differently from vinegar: they taste rounder and carry flavour of their own. Pineapple also supplies bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down protein - one reason the fish goes in late and only briefly.
Up-Food calculates calories, macro- and micronutrients for this dish, adds them to your daily balance and shows you which nutrients you are still missing this week.
- Nutrients per serving based on USDA and BLS reference data
- Add it straight to your weekly plan
- Send the ingredients to your shopping list
- Vitality score across seven days
No account, no payment details — you see the finished plan right away. See pricing
