My favorite soup recipe..
#147966 - 02/08/05 06:48 PM
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steather
Reged: 01/29/03
Posts: 345
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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Hey guys, it's been great soup weather and this one is my all-time favorites...and since there have been alot more "fish sauce" postings recently, I figured it would be well received! I almost always use chicken instead of catfish, and tofu would be a great substitution as well...many of the ingredients are optional, and you can substitute several different vegetables (i.e. celery and even okra go well in this soup!) A very plain, but good version is just chicken with tomato and pineapple. Don't leave out the tamarind! That's the star ingredient....mmmmmmmm.
Sour Soup with Tomato and Lotus
(Somlah Machou Khmer)
Serves 4 (I usually triple this! Leftovers are great!)
3 cups chicken broth
2 stalks lemongrass, bottom halves only, smashed
¼ cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
¼ pineapple, peeled, cored, sliced ¼ inch thick and julienned (8 oz. canned pineapple works fine)
¼ pound lotus rootlets, cut into 2-inch lengths (these come in brine in glass jars in asian supermarkets...)
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
¾ pound catfish fillets, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ cup tamarind juice (I use the powdered tamarind soup base, about 1 tsp, according to taste)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
10 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh ma'am, cilantro, or mint (ngo om in Vietnamese)
Optional garnishing: Thinly sliced bird's eye chilies
Put the chicken broth in a large stockpot and add the lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. Add the pineapple, lotus rootlets and tomato and return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Gently stir in the catfish and tamarind juice and cook for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat and fry the garlic until brown but not burned, 2 to 3 minutes; set aside.
When the fish is cooked, add the garlic, basil and ma'am or other herbs. Serve the soup piping hot with sliced bird's eye chilies.
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Heather
"Quod me Nutrit me Destruit"
Edited by steather (02/08/05 06:51 PM)
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I tried to store my noodle soup stock in the fridge and I found that the fish sauce got stronger seemingly by the hour! Have you experienced this? I buy my fish sauce at the asian market and it is much stronger that the stuff you buy at the local supermarket.
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"puffy"
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Hmmm....I haven't noticed the fish sauce getting stronger with any of my soups (though they don't last long...I usually leave it covered on the stovetop for a while, and beyond a day refrigerate), though, to tell you the truth, I've been cooking with it for so long that I am completely used to the taste and smell... A funny story regarding this. Last time I made the somlah machou, I was leaning over the pot, tasting it while I was talking on my cell phone, and accidentally dropped the phone in! It made this "glug glug brooooouuuw" sound, and shut off...It didn't work for a week, and it still smells faintly of fish sauce!
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Heather
"Quod me Nutrit me Destruit"
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The broth for the vietnamese noodle soup is chicken broth and just a dash of fish sauce. I stored it in the fridge for a day or two and the fish taste was so strong I had to throw it out. Perhaps it is because there are only two ingredients in the broth there is nothing to absorb the "fishy" flavor.
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"puffy"
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