AI-generated image
Vegetarian sour soup
Canh chua chay: tamarind broth with pineapple, tomato, okra, tofu and fresh herbs
Canh chua, 'sour soup', is on the table at nearly every family meal in the Mekong Delta, served with plain rice. The broth is soured with tamarind and sweetened with pineapple and tomato, then filled with okra, celery-like taro stems, bean sprouts and lots of herbs. This vegetarian version uses fried tofu in place of fish. It is light, tangy and refreshing in hot weather. Chef's tip: fry the tomato with the shallot until it collapses before adding the liquid, so the broth turns rosy, then add the herbs and bean sprouts only off the heat and finish with garlic fried in oil, which gives the soup its southern fragrance.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the broth
For the vegetables and tofu
To finish
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Soak 1 oz tamarind pulp (from a block) in ¾ cup hot water for 5 minutes, then squash it with your fingers or a fork to loosen the pulp. Push it through a sieve, keeping the sour liquid and throwing away the seeds and fibres.
5 minStep 2: If you're using firm tofu rather than ready-fried puffs, fry it in a little of the 2 tbsp vegetable oil over a medium-high heat until golden on all sides, about 6 minutes, and set aside. Heat the remaining oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Fry 2 shallots for 1 minute until soft and fragrant, then add 2 ripe tomatoes and cook for 3–4 minutes, pressing them down, until they collapse and colour the oil red.
5 minStep 3: Pour in 5 cups vegetable stock or water and bring to the boil. Add 5 ½ oz fresh pineapple and 7 oz fried tofu puffs or firm tofu and simmer for 5 minutes so the pineapple sweetens the broth.
5 minStep 4: Stir in two-thirds of the tamarind liquid with 1 ½ tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp salt. Taste: it should be clearly sour first, then sweet, then salty. Add more tamarind, sugar or salt until it tastes bright and balanced.
Step 5: Add 6 okra and 2 stalks taro stem (bạc hà) or celery and simmer for just 2 minutes; they should stay bright green and a little crunchy.
2 minStep 6: Meanwhile, fry 3 cloves garlic in 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a small pan over a medium-low heat for 1–2 minutes, until pale golden and crisp. Watch it closely, as it burns quickly.
2 minStep 7: Take the soup off the heat and drop in 3 ½ oz bean sprouts and 1 handful rice paddy herb (ngò om) and sawtooth coriander (ngò gai). Ladle into a big bowl, spoon over the garlic and its oil and scatter with 1 red chilli. Serve at once with 4 bowls steamed jasmine rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 210 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does vegetarian sour soup take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
- What can I use instead of ripe tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Caramelised clay-pot tofu and mushrooms
Kho is the slow braise of the Mekong Delta: food simmered in a little clay pot (nồi đất) with dark caramel and seasoning until the sauce is sticky and the flavours go deep. This vegetarian cousin of cá kho tộ (braised fish) uses golden tofu and meaty mushrooms in place of fish, cooked in coconut water, as cooks do in the south, and finished with plenty of black pepper. Serve it bubbling in its pot with steamed rice and a sour soup or plain boiled vegetables. Chef's tip: take the caramel (nước màu) to a deep mahogany, darker than you think, just before it smokes; pale caramel only tastes sweet, while dark caramel gives the bittersweet, smoky flavour of a real kho.
Vegan nuoc cham
Nước chấm is the dipping sauce that goes with almost everything in Vietnam: spring rolls, bánh xèo, noodle salads and broken rice. Buddhist vegetarian cooks, all over the country, make it without fish sauce, using light soy sauce and a little coconut water for the deep, rounded taste. It should be thin, clear and pale amber, with flecks of garlic and chilli floating on top. Chef's tip: dissolve the sugar in the warm water first, then add the lime and soy, and stir in the garlic and chilli last, pounded with a pinch of sugar, so they float on the surface instead of sinking.
Soto Banjar
Along the rivers of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, breakfast often means soto Banjar eaten at a wooden riverside warung, sometimes after a dawn trip to the floating market. Unlike the turmeric sotos of Java, this broth is pale and clear, perfumed with the sweet spices that traders brought up the river centuries ago: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and nutmeg. Shredded chicken, glass noodles, carrot and a boiled egg go into the bowl with rice cakes, and lime and a little chilli sharpen it at the table. Chef's tip: toast the whole spices in the pan for a minute before the paste goes in; it brings out their sweetness without the dusty edge of ground spice.
