Canh Chua

One of my favorite soups is canh chua -- a delicious soup that's flavored with tamarind (me in Vietnamese). My uncle Chu Nghia is a fantastic cook and I have him to thank for the keys to a deliciously aromatic canh chua:

Tamarind fruit is a delicious sour/sweet fruit common in southeast Asian cooking. You may recognize its flavor from certain Asian candies and pad thai.

For canh chua, I suggest you buy a block of seedless tamarind pulp. Despite its name, seedless tamarind pulp is not seedless and often has bits of tamarind shell. To prepare it, mix the tamarind pulp with about a cup of boiling water. Stir it around, break up the pieces, and let it sit for at least an hour.

 Then strain out the seeds, shells, and any large pieces of fiber. You'll want to press through the strainer with a spoon to get as much liquid and pulp extracted as possible.

You'll be left with real seedless tamarind pulp. 




Ingredients in the soup:
Fresh chicken broth (nuoc ga tui)
Tamarind Pulp (bot me)
Tomatoes (ca chua)
Chayote (trai su su)
Bean sprouts (gia)
Catfish
 Toasted garlic -- very important!
Optional -- bamboo, greens, etc.