Pineapple & Fish Soup
Can Mang Chua Thom—Vietnamese
(Serves 4-6)

12 oz. cod or halibut (bite-size pieces)
1 tsp. sea or kosher salt
2 C water
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2 T oil
1 medium onion (sliced thin)
1 1/2 C fresh pineapple (1" pieces)
1 medium tomato (peeled, seeded, chopped)
8-oz. can bamboo shoots (drained)
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. fresh ginger (grated)
1 1/2 tsp. tamarind paste (see sidebar)
1/4 C water
1/8 tsp. dried hot pepper flakes (crushed)
4 C chicken stock
1/4 C lime or lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
1 T fresh mint leaves (chopped)—garnish

Fish: sprinkle fish with salt, and let sit 15 minutes. In a medium saucepan, boil 2 C water, add fish pieces, and simmer gently till fish is opaque, 3-5 minutes. Remove fish and reserve liquid. Set both aside.

Soup: heat oil in skillet or wok over medium heat, add onion, and cook 5 minuites. Add pineapple, tomato, bamboo shoots, and sugar. Dilute tamarind paste in 1/4 C water and add to pineapple mixture, along with pepper flakes. Add stock and simmer gently over low for 5 minutes.

Assembly: add fish and its liquid to pineapple/chicken broth. Add lime or lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste. Simmer 2-3 more minutes. Serve sprinkled with fresh mint.

Tips & Glossary: Southeast Asian

You probably won’t have many of the ingredients common to this cuisine. So before undertaking any of the recipes, make a list and head to an Asian food store.

Toss any old, even unopened, spice jars because they’ve probably lost their distinctive flavors. Put them on your shopping list. 

About those chilis: Southeast Asian food is Hot, with a capital H, hotter than most Westerners are used to. We’ve turned the heat down in these recipes somewhat, but just to warn you: adjust the use of chilies to your tastes.

Rice Sticks: aka rice noodles or vermicelli; thin dried noodles from rice flour. Soak before using, about 1 hour, or less, depending on how soft or chewy you like your noodles. You’ll want to experiment a bit before you find the texture you want. 

Shrimp Paste: made of fermented, ground shrimp. Called terasi in Indonesia, kapi in Thailand, blachanag in Malay, and mam tom in Vietnamese. It has a pungent smell, which you may find hard to take, but it’s essential in many dishes. 

Tamarind: tropical tree grown in Africa and Asia; its fruit pulp is used as souring agent for savory dishes in Asian cooking. It’s also found in Worcestershire sauce and some ketchup.

Wok: you can use a wok, though it’s not necessary—a deep, wide skillet will do. If you use a wok, make sure it’s properly seasoned: coat bottom and sides with 1 C oil and it till it begins to smoke.  Let it smoke for 2-3 minutes.  Pour out oil, and when wok is cool enough, rub with paper towel, removing excess oil.  Pour in ½ C coarse-grained salt and rub into bottom and sides of wok. Pour off salt and rub wok with a thin layer of oil—and you’ve got a seasoned wok.