Vietnamese-Style Hot and Sour Fish Soup

Name: Vietnamese-Style Hot and Sour Fish Soup
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: ¼ cup Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce; 2 Thai chilies or 4 Jalapeño chilies, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed, finely chopped; 1 quart chicken broth or water; 2 medium-size tomatoes, peeled, cut into thin wedges, and seeds removed, or 1 cup canned, seeded and drained; 3 shallots, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons safflower oil; 2 Thai chilies or 4 Jalapeño chilies, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed, finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 24 small fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped; 1 quart chicken broth or water; ½ cup bean sprouts; 24 fresh Asian basil leaves or regular sweet basil leaves, coarsely chopped; 6 tablespoons tamarind paste or juice of 3 limes; 6 tablespoons tamarind paste or juice of 3 limes; 1 cup boiling water if you’re using tamarind paste; 1 cup boiling water if you’re using tamarind paste; 2 pounds firm-fleshed fish fillets, skin and bones removed; ½ pineapple, peeled, core removed, cut into wedges or 1 14-ounce can, drained; 1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation info

Makes
10
First-Course Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

Although the name is similar, this hot and sour soup tastes nothing like the Thai version. The combination of Asian basil, mint, and pineapple gives the soup a lovely subtlety that’s hard to imagine until you’ve tasted it. When this soup is served in Vietnamese restaurants in the United States, it is most often made with shrimp and sometimes with eels, but my favorite version, given here, is made with fish.

The sourness comes from tamarind, which is available as a paste, but the sou

Ingredients

Asia
Vietnam
Starter
Soup
Main course
Gluten-free

Ingredients

Method