Vietnamese Sour Soup / Canh Chua
Canh chua is a unique and flavorful soup packed with fresh herbs and veggies! Canh chua gets its signature sour and tangy flavor from the use of tamarind. Great for easy weekday dinners!
- Prep time
- 45 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 quarts water
- 2 lbs head-on shrimp
- 1/2 a pineapple or 20 oz canned pineapple chunks
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 16 oz okra
- 10 oz taro stem
- 12 oz beansprout
- 1/4 onion
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp knorr tamarind soup mix
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 oz rice paddy herb
- 1 oz culantro
- 1 bundle cilantro
- 1 bundle green onion
Instructions
- 1
Prepare vegetables by cleaning and cutting. Pineapples into one-inch chunks. Tomatoes into quarters. Cut off end bits of okra. Peel and cut the taro stems into 1/4-inch slices. Finely dice onions, and chop up green onions, cilantro, rice paddy herb, and culantro. Then, put to the side
- 2
Clean shrimp by purging in cold water, then de-poop by using a toothpick and poking it in the back near the vein and lift out
- 3
In a stock pot, add oil and sauté onions until fragrant. Add in head-on shrimp, and sauté for another couple of minutes. Add in water, bring up to a boil, and skim off the impurities. Then remove the shrimp, making sure not to overcook.
- 4
Season broth with chicken bouillon, sugar, fish sauce, and tamarind powder
- 5
Add pineapple, tomatoes, okra, and taro stem, and bring back up to a boil. Then, at the end, add in beansprouts. Remove from heat, and add in rice paddy herb, cilantro, and cilantro
- 6
Serve in a bowl, making each bowl have a little bit of each vegetable and shrimp. Garnish with green onions and serve with a side of rice