“There’s always a soup in the middle of the table at dinner, as a palate cleanser as well as a refresher. This is one of my favourites. You cook the fish in with the soup, which makes it really quick to do.”
– Uyen Luu, food writer and supper-club owner, London
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
2 fillets (or whole) sea bass (or bream, salmon)
2 tomatoes, quartered
1/4 pineapple cubed
12-inch stick of taro root (also called elephant ear), peeled and thinly sliced
50g beansprouts
1 lime
1 tbsp sugar
500ml water (or good quality chicken stock)
2 diced small shallots
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Chilli-fish sauce:
1 chilli, sliced
1tbsp fish sauce
Garnishes:
10g rice paddy herb (or coriander, sweet basil, Vietnamese parsley), roughly chopped
METHOD
In a large sauce pan, bring water to boil then add tomatoes, pineapple and the juice of a lime. Add sugar and fish sauce. Taste and adjust the balance. Add more sour if it is too sweet, more sugar if too salty and more salty if too sweet. Bring to the boil for a further 2 minutes then add the fillet or a whole fish – bring to the boil again for another 2 minutes. In a separate frying pan, brown off the shallots then add the garlic.
In a serving bowl, add the raw beansprouts, taro root and chilli. Then add the fried shallots and garlic on top. Once the soup is ready, pour the entire contents into the serving bowl. The hot broth should cook the beansprouts and the taro root soaks in the broth like a crunchy sponge. Sprinkle the herbs on top. Serve with steamed rice, with vermicelli or on its own.
You can also use prawns, squid and different types of seafood as an option. Fish heads always bring out a great flavour or not at all for vegetarians.