Canh Chua Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Shrimp Soup

Canh Chua Tom (Sweet and Sour Shrimp)
Taken By Susan Tran 

Serving: 4

Time: 40 minutes

Cost: $20 to $25

Beside pho, Vietnamese cuisine also has an amazing sour soup that can make the inside of your mouth pinch, yet, the brain is telling you to sip! Sip! Sip!

The Sour Soup is a flavorful and colorful soup that originated near the Mekong Delta River in South Vietnam. People in this region rely heavily on the river as their main food source, so people commonly use fresh fish to make this tasty soup.

The two main ingredients that are very popular and are used to prepare this soup, are shrimp and fish. I will also talk about why I prefer to use shrimp over fish.  

 Shrimp vs Fish

Live Shrimp By: LucyPB2urjelly

Shrimp is way faster to cook with! Peel, cut and cook! The broth and shrimp should be cooked in separate pots, because overcooking shrimp will cause it to shrink. Once the shrimp is done cooking you can set it aside until the broth is done. Another reason why we should add the shrimp  in last is because we don’t want to lose the sweet juicy flavor. TIP: For a better redder shrimp, you should leave the shell on and add a bit of water (just enough to cover the shrimps) along with a pinch of salt and seal it with a lid (Be careful of the overflow when the lid is on). (The shrimp should be fully cooked after 4 to 5 minutes at a high boiling temperature)

Live Catfish by C Simmons

Fish! The preparation for fish takes longer than shrimp!  I never like fish at all because during my childhood I choked on a fish bone and it was my worst nightmare. That wasn't the only bad part about it! If a fish isn't cleaned correctly, a foul smell will make it very hard for you to enjoy this delicious broth! Even though, it may take a lot of work people still prefer to eat this. If your main ingredient is fish, after cleaning the fish properly, you can just add it in along with your broth and veggies. Fish takes longer to cook! (Depending on the size of the fish. Is it whole? Sliced? chopped up?)

I love to use shrimp in most my of dishes because I haven't achieved the level of being able to prep a fish and leave it scentless. Another reason why is because shrimp are faster to cook and less work is needed. That is why I decide to use shrimp for this recipe. 

Beside the main ingredient (fish or shrimp), you will also need to add pineapple, tomato, beansprouts and a variety selection of healthy herbs such as Vietnamese taro stem and Vietnamese rice paddy herb (Optional: which I didn't use for this soup).

Vietnamese Taro Stem Taken by Susan Tran 

Sweet and Sour SHRIMP Soup Ingredients:

Ingredients for Sour Shrimp Soup Taken By Susan Tran

-          Peeled & Deveined shrimp

-          2 fresh chopped tomatoes 

-          1 can of chunk pineapple 

-          2 giant chicken broth can (save a lot of time but you can also review BBH blog if you want to start off from scratch)

-          1 Red/Green/Orange bell pepper sliced (any bell pepper will work; depending on your preference)

-          1 small bag of bean sprout

-          1 stick of sliced Vietnamese Taro Stem (Bac Ha)
- Steam Rice or Small rice Vermicelli noodle
- Chopped mints 

-          2 tablespoon of tamarind powder

  Tamarind Powder Taken by Susan Tran 

-          1 red Thai bird chili (optional: add a little spicy to the broth)

-          6 okra sliced

How do we eat this??

1.       Kick back and Hot Pot!   

Hot Pot, is the easiest and fastest way to enjoy this soup. Less work is needed for the kitchen host because all you need to do is prepare the broth and wash the veggies. After all ingredients are clean, you may set your table. It is best if you eat this with (small) rice vermicelli noodle!  

Instruction for hot pot!

Campbell's Can Broth Taken by Susan Tran 

The peeled and deveined shrimps can be added in along the veggies 

1.       Wash all veggies and set them on plate

2.       Set up the broth in the pot and add tamarind powder

3.       Turn on the fire and you can slowly add the ingredients into the pot. You may scoop it out after 8 minutes. 

2.       Family meal!

Just like any other typical Asian dinner, a soup is always a must! This means more work for the person in charge of cooking because when eating sour soup, it is best served with a bowl of steamed rice!

Instruction For family dinner way!

The shrimp should be cooked separately and added in last for this

1.       Set up the first pot for the shrimp and cook them. After 5 minutes with hot boiling water closed lid. Peel & devein them.

2.         You should wash all the herbs and then slice the veggies

3.       Set up the broth in the second pot and you can add the greens along with the tamarind powder and boil it for 8 minutes

4.       Add the beansprout and the shrimp into the second pot after it has boiling for 7 minutes

5.       Pour it out into a bowl

6.       Add a few chopped mint and sliced Thai chili as topping

Have you ever try this type of soup before? If yes, Let me know what you think of it.

Horrible, 
      Sincerely
          The person stuck proof reading this. 

Coming soon: Goi Buoi Tom Thit  Pomelo Salad with Shrimp and Roast Pork