Recipe: Canh Cá Thì Là, Vietnamese Fish and Dill Soup

Canh Cá Thì Là is a sister soup of Canh Chua (Vietnamese Sour Soup), it has the usual fish and tomato combination, however Canh Cá Thì Là is very distinct in that it aromatic qualities comes from  Vietnamese Dill or Thì Là that is used.

This Recipe can feed between 5-7 people. My family is pretty big so you might want to cut down the proportions if you only need to feed a few people.

Ingridents

2,  Tilapias (roughly 3 pounds in total),  Fresh, my mom buys here fish still swimming, so the   fresher the better
5 Roma Tomatoes or 2-3 regular tomatoes
3 tablespoons of white wine 
1 package of Vietnamese Dill
2 Asian Shallots (Asian shallots are more pungent than the regular ones)
5 stalks of Green Onions
1 small head of Red-Leaf Lettuce
1 small bunch of Kinh Gioi, Vietnamese Balm Herb
1 small bunch of Tia To, Purple Perilla Herb
1 teaspoon of Sugar
1 tablespoon of Granulated Chicken Stock
Salt, Pepper, and Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce) to taste

This would be one of the dishes you would cook outside. Oh, wait? You don't have an outside kitchen because you don't like the smell of nuoc mam throughout your house? Oh, well the inside kitchen works too, just open up the windows!

First clean and gut the fish, you can have the fish monger do this for you. Cut the fish into 4-5 inch steaks and sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of salt and the white wine on top of the fish and rub it in.  Let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then rinse under cold water thoroughly this process will reduce the fishy smell of the Tilapia.

 

 Slice the Shallots and saute it with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large soup pot. Saute the shallots until it is golden brown, stir constantly to avoid burning.

When the shallots are brown, add another 2 tablespoons of oil into the pot and slightly sear the fish on both sides. Sear the fish until it picks up a light brown color.

While the fish is being seared, cut the tomatoes into wedges, try not to cut them too small, but not to big. Tomatoes have big integrity in this soup. Also bring a kettle of water to a boil.

 Once the fish has been seared, pour the kettle of boiling water over the fish until the water covers an inch above the fish. Let it boil for a little under 10 mins.

 Remember to occasionally remove the foam/scum on the surface of the soup. This is very important because the foam is not very delicious nor does it look appetizing.

Then add the tomatoes and let simmer for another 10 mins. After 10 mins, its time to season, add about one tablespoon of fish sauce, half teaspoon of salt, sugar, and the granulated chicken stock. Let the soup simmer for 35 mins. Try not to stir too much to avoid breaking up the fish and tomatoes. 

 While the soup is simmering away, prepare and clean the red-leaf lettuce, Vietnamese Dill, Green Onions, Purple Perilla, and Vietnamese Balm Herbs.

Slice the lettuce, Purple Perilla, and Vietnamese Balm into 1/4-1/2 inch slices. Place it in a colander to drain the excess water.

Slice the Vietnamese Dill and Green Onions into 1/4 inch slices.

After the Soup has simmered for 35 minutes, taste the broth to make sure the seasonings are right, you might want to add a little fish sauce if its too bland, or a little bit of water if its too salty.

Add the Green Onions and Vietnamese Dill after adjusting the seasonings. Cook for another 30 seconds and turn off the heat. You can scoop everything into a bowl and add some ground pepper on top, or scoop the fish out on a separate plate and the soup into its own bowl. Serve with rice, fish sauce for dipping and the veggies.