Vietnamese Spicy Sour Soup Recipes

CHINESE SPICY HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Soak the dried mushrooms and tiger lily buds in warm water for 20 minutes. After trimming off any tough stems, slice the mushrooms. With the fingers, shred the tiger lily stems.
• Place the mushrooms, tiger lily buds, stock, bamboo shoots, and shredded pork into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in soy sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper, and vinegar. Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water. Add a little of the hot soup to the cornstarch, and then return all to the pan. Heat to boiling, stirring. Add the bean curd, and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
• Just before serving, turn off the heat. Stir the egg in gradually. Mix in sesame oil. Sprinkle each serving with scallions.

SPICY VIETNAMESE BEEF AND NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat peanut oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle oxtails with salt and pepper. Add oxtails to pot and brown on all sides, about 20 minutes. Transfer oxtails to large bowl. Add onions and next 6 ingredients to same pot. Sauté until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Return oxtails to pot. Add 12 cups water, beef broth and 3 tablespoons fish sauce. Cover and simmer gently until oxtails are very tender, about 3 hours.
• Using tongs, transfer oxtails to large bowl. Strain broth into another large pot; discard solids. Remove meat from oxtails; discard bones. Add meat to broth.
• Refrigerate overnight. Spoon solid fat off top of soup. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain; rinse under cold water. Return to same pot. Toss noodles with sesame oil.
• Bring soup to boil. Divide noodles, sprouts and next 6 ingredients among 6 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with lime wedges and additional fish sauce.
• *Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets nationwide.

VIETNAMESE SWEET & SOUR SOUP (CANH CHUA)

Steps:

• Add pork to a large soup pot. Cover with water until it just covers the pork. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Take out the pork and then throw away the water. This process cleans the pork. Rinse the pot and add the pork back. Cover the pork with fresh water until it just covers the meat. Bring to a boil.
• Add the onion and simmer for 1.5 hours. Make sure to check every 30 minutes for impurities. Scoop away any you see.
• While the soup is simmering, combine 1 cup of water and tamarind in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until the tamarind dissolves.You can help speed up the process by using the back of a spoon to crush the tamarind. Pour the tamarind through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl. Set aside.
• After simmering the soup for 1.5 hours, add the pineapple and ginger to the soup. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
• Put the catfish in and simmer for another 10 minutes until it is cooked through.
• Lastly, add the vegetables and tamarind from step 3. Bring the soup to a boil and serve with a side of white rice. Make sure to taste the soup for seasoning and add more salt if it tastes bland.

VIETNAMESE SWEET AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Bring water or chicken stock* to a boil.
• Add tomato, pineapple juice and pineapple chunks and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add shrimp, optional chili, lemon, sugar, and fish sauce and simmer 3-5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked.
• Add okra, bean sprouts and recao. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Salt to taste and garnish with scallions and cilantro.

VIETNAMESE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Medium pot, heat oil over medium high heat, add diced onions. Saute until tender, stirring often, about 4 - 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, and mushrooms.
• Saute until mushrooms are just tender, about 3-4 more minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Saute until tomatoes begin to melt, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add stock and soy sauce (optional). Add tofu and tamarind paste ( or lime juice). Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Taste for balance. Add salt to taste.
• Serve in a bowls with chopped cilantro and chives and chili flakes.
• Serves 2 for dinner or 4 as a starter.

VIETNAMESE SPICY & SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• Whisk tamarind with 80 ml water and set aside.
• Dust shrimp with cornstarch. Heat 30 ml/2 tbsp of oil in large frying pan over medium heat and stir-fry shrimp just until pink, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• In large saucepan, heat stock and tamarind juice over medium heat. Add celery, pineapple, tomato, okra, ginger, garlic and chilies; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add sprouts. Stir in fish sauce, sugar and salt.
• Heat remaining 15 ml/1 tbsp oil in frying pan and stir-fry shallots until golden, taking care not to burn, about four minutes.
• Add shrimp to soup, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and serve, garnished with shallots and fresh cilantro. Serves 6-8.
• Note: Try to use fresh pineapple, not canned, for this dish. It makes all the difference.

VIETNAMESE HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring broth, lemongrass, mushrooms, and onion to a boil.
• Add shrimp, fish sauce and lime juice to the pot.
• Cook until shrimp is opaque (1 - 2 minutes).
• Add rice noodles and heat another minute.
• Serve in soup bowls with garnishes as desired.

VIETNAMESE SOUR SOUP (CANH CHUA)

Steps:

• Heat up a pot of water and bring it to a boil.
• Meanwhile, add 3 tbsp oil to a saucepan and brown the garlic on low heat for 5 minutes or until golden. Set aside for later.
• With the water boiling, season it with the tamarind powder, chicken bouillon powder, sugar and fish sauce. Bring the heat to a simmer as you prepare the fresh ingredients.
• Chop the pineapple into 4cm (1.6") long chunks.
• Cut the elephant ear plants into 4cm (1.6") long segments by slicing diagonally.
• Cut the okra in half using a diagonal slice.
• Cut the tomatoes into thick wedges.
• Finely chop the rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander.
• Heat up a wok on high heat and add 4 tbsp oil in. Lower the heat to medium and brown the garlic for 30 seconds.
• Turn the heat back to high and add the fish steaks in to sear on both sides for 3 minutes each side.
• Bring the pot of seasoned water back to a boil and pour the fish and garlic in.
• Add the pineapple, elephant ear plant, okra, tomatoes and browned garlic to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Serve as is garnished with fried garlic, rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander. Pour a small dish of fish sauce to use as a dip!