In Quang Ngai, almost everyone knows the sour fish soup, a rustic dish associated with Quang Ngai people's meals.
This fish species appears a lot in coastal areas, the selling price is not too expensive but the meat is delicious, fatty and healthy, so it is favored by many families.
Dia fish has white, soft meat, light fatty taste and is easy to eat. Currently, the price of fish fluctuates around 130,000 VND/kg. After buying, the fish is cleaned and marinated with chili, Ly Son garlic, fish sauce, pepper, seasoning powder and a little MSG. Just wait about 15 minutes for the fish to absorb the seasoning and you can start cooking soup.
Each family has their own cooking method. Some people like to fry fish briefly with a little oil to reduce fishy smell and help the meat become firmer. Others maintain their natural freshness by putting the fish directly in a pot of boiling water.
The ingredients for cooking sour fish soup are quite simple, including only a quarter of the pineapple, a few ripe tomatoes, a little okra, bean sprouts and water spinach. A delicious soup usually starts with the step of frying shallots until fragrant, then adding tomatoes and pineapple cut into bite-sized pieces and stir-frying briefly.
Tomatoes and pineapple stir-fried first will make the broth richer and create an attractive color. When the ingredients are fragrant, the cook adds water and boils it, then puts the lizardfish back in the pot. When the water boils again, take the ripe tamarind and mash it with water, filter out the seeds and add it to create a mild sour taste.
When the fish is cooked, you can take it out onto a plate to avoid mushing the meat. Next, add okra and bean sprouts to the pot. Wait for the soup to boil again, then add the fish again, add chopped water spinach and season to taste.
A hot bowl of sour fish soup with the characteristic aroma of water spinach, blending with the red color of tomatoes, the yellow color of pineapple and the green color of okra, is already attractive. Fish can be taken out separately and dipped in a bowl of spicy chili fish sauce.
On hot summer days, the whole family gathers around a pot of sour fish soup with steaming smoke, sipping and feeling the sour, sweet, and fatty taste spreading, as if dispelling the harsh heat of the Central region.
