Sour fish soup

Pineapple might seem like an odd ingredient to add to fish soup, but the pineapple-fish-tomato combination is beloved in South East Asia for good reason.

Sour fish soup Credit: One World Kitchen

• serves

  4-5

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 piece (4-ounce) of tamarind pulp, plus 2 tablespoons (30 ml) liquid pulp mixture
• 350 g snapper fillets, bones removed
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• 3 tsp (15 ml) canola oil
• ½ onion, chopped 
• 3 tsp (15 ml) fish sauce
• 1 ½ tsp sugar
• Fish stock, to cover
• 1 ½ cups cubed pineapple
• 2 small tomatoes, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 ½ cup bean sprouts, for garnish
• 1 tsp cumin
• 300 g okra, sliced 
• 5 stalks coriander, chopped

Marinating time: 15 minutes

Instructions

1. Put piece of tamarind pulp in dish and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 15 minutes.
 
2. Drain water from dish, then place tamarind pulp in a fine-mesh sieve sitting over a bowl. 
 
3. Using a spatula or your fingers, press the pulp against the sieve so that a paste is forced through the sieve and the fibres of the tamarind remain on top of the sieve. The resulting amount of paste may vary, but you want to use 2 tablespoons of paste for this recipe. 
 
4. Season snapper with salt, pepper, and chilli powder and set aside for at least 15 minutes. 
 
5. After 15 minutes, cut fish into bite-sized pieces. 
 
6. Heat 1 tbsp of canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. 
 
7. Add onions and cook until soft.
 
8. Stir in the tamarind, fish sauce, sugar, and enough fish stock to cover the fish. 
 
9. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower to a simmer, and add the fish and pineapple. 
 
10. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until pineapple is tender. 
 
11. Stir in the tomatoes, bean sprouts, and cumin.
 
12. Add the okra and snapper to the soup and simmer for 2 minutes, or until softened. 
 
13. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.