I had the opportunity to try Vietnamese Sour Fish Stew and Vietnamese Caramelised Fish for the first time recently in Canley Vale, and was so captivated I had to try to recreate these dishes. In this Twitch Live Asian Kitchen I used Barramundi fillets instead of eel or whole fish – mainly to keep it simple and accessible to those who struggle with fish on the bone. As mentioned in this video, these two dishes are traditionally cooked from the one fish and the flavours are meant to complement each other. I have split this into two separate recipe posts for easier indexing.
Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Fish Stew
INGREDIENTS:
500g barramundi fillets (or similar)
Oil for pan-frying
2 Tbsps minced garlic
2 tomatoes, halved
1 large chilli, sliced
1 cup julienned pineapple
½ cup sliced okra (optional)
⅔ cup tamarind concentrate
5-6 Tbsps sugar
2 Tbsps chicken powder
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 ½ L water
2 Tbsps sliced spring onion
1 cup beansprouts (optional)
1 stalk sawtooth herb (optional)
METHOD:
- Heat oil in frying pan and fry fish fillets until skin is crispy. Remove fish and all but 1 Tbsp oil.
- Saute garlic until lightly browned.
- Add tomatoes, chilli, pineapple, okra, seasoning and water. Bring to a simmer, then add fish and cook a further 3-5 minutes.
- Adjust seasoning, then add spring onion, beansprouts and sawtooth herb.
- Remove from heat and serve with rice.
