Canh Chua Ca

Recipe from Hollie, Facebook

 I cook all my canh with homemade chicken stock rather than plain water. It's more flavorful, especially canh chua.

Ingredients:
Homemade chicken stock
Rock sugar
Tamarind powder (Knorr brand)
1-2 tsp of Tom Yum paste
Your canh chua veggies (I'm sure you know what they are)
Ngò ôm
Minced garlic, pan fried in oil until lightly brown - make fried garlic oil.

Start a pot with homemade chicken stock (which I already seasoned with rock sugar and salt to taste) on high heat and bring it to slightly boil. Add some more rock sugar to slightly sweeten the taste of the broth.  You wanted it slightly on the sweet side so that when you add the tamarind powder and the tom yum paste, the flavor will balance out. I add tom yum paste to give it a better color because of the oil in it, but you don't have to. Tamarind powder is good enough for the sour flavor. Use your taste bud as a guide to season this to your taste. It's supposed to be sweet and sour. Then I add the fish, pineapple, celery, tomatoes, and okra in this order. Bring the broth back to boil. Cook until you see the okras go from their raw green color to a wet darker green. Turn off the heat, so you don't overcook the veggies, especially the okras. Taste and look better when okra are just right and not overcooked. In a big soup bowl, I put some beans sprouts. Then ladle my canh chua into the bowl while it is still hot. This will then cook my beans sprouts to just right. Top with ngò
ôm and fried garlic oil and some sliced Thai red chili peppers if you want a spicy kick. Good canh chua is not just in the seasoning but also not to overcook your veggies. So I usually just make a pot of broth, season with everything. When I'm ready to eat, I ladle out an amount enough for a bowl to serve for the meal, into a separate pot. Add my veggies and cook to just right and serve. I don't cook a big pot because if you don't finish, all the veggies are way overcooked the next day and it's not as good anymore. I do it the restaurant way. Cook a bowl at a time. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions.