Simple Fish Soup with Vietnamese Coriander

5 from 1 vote

Simple Fish Soup with Vietnamese Coriander

This simple fish soup with Vietnamese coriander showcases the natural flavor of fresh seawater fish and the unique aroma of rau răm. It is a light and refreshing soup to make for family dinners.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: canh cá rau răm, Central Vietnamese fish soup

Servings: people

Calories: 157kcal

Author: Sophie Pham

Ingredients

2 whole white-fleshed fish, 8 oz each, cleaned and gutted (or fish steaks - see Notes for more details and suggestions)
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and cut into thick slices
4 small to medium shallots, peeled and divided
1 tablespoon rice wine or sake
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
cooking oil
white parts of 2 scallion stalks
5 cups fish stock or kombu stock
1-2 bird's eye chili, thinly sliced (remove seeds if you don't want too much spiciness)
1½ cups Vietnamese coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Instructions

Cook the Soup

If using whole fish, score each side of the fish with 1-2 diagonal lashes.
Take 1 ginger slice and half of the shallots. Roughly pound or smack them into smaller pieces and then rub all over the fish together with the wine, salt and pepper. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
Place a pot over medium heat. Once it is hot, add a bit of cooking oil. Add the remaining ginger and briefly sauté until you can smell the fragrance. Continue to add the shallots and white parts of the scallion. Sauté briefly until fragrant.
Pour fish stock into the pot, add chili pepper and bring it to a boil. Slice the fish into the pot and cook for about 3 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. There's no need to cover the pot and adjust the heat if needed to maintain a rapid simmer.
Add Vietnamese coriander to the pot and let it come back to a boil. Adjust seasonings to taste, and then transfer to serving bowls.

Serve the Soup

Option 1: Transfer the soup to a large serving bowl. When eating, take the fish out of the soup and place it on to clean plate so diners can use serving chopsticks (or knife and fork) to pick the flesh.
Option 2: Transfer the cooked fish to a plate and remove all the bones. Divide the flesh into the serving bowls and then divide the broth into each bowl.

Notes

We often use whole fish that aren't too large with slightly flat shape, and mildly sweet, lean and meaty white flesh. I highly recommend using a seawater fish available at your local grocery stores with similar flavor and texture profile. If whole fish is not an option, you can use fish steaks that aren't too thick or try fish fillets.

We often make fish stock from simmering fish bones or dried anchovies. Alternatively, you can also use kombu stock as the base for the soup.

Nutrition