Canh Chua Tom (Sour shrimp soup)

Canh chua, A classic Vietnamese soup made of tamarind, pineapples, and veggies. Whenever I miss the comfort of my grandma's cooking, I make myself a pot of canh chua. She use to make it for me all the time just because she knew it was my favorite. This recipe is for my favorite kind of canh chua, canh chua tom(shrimp).

Yield: 2 Qt. soup, 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/2-1 lb of cleaned shrimp with heads.

1 quart of water

2 cups of chicken broth or water

8 oz can of pineapple chunks

1 Tbsp of tamarind paste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup of brown sugar or granulated sugar

2 Tbsp of fish sauce

1 Tbsp salt

1 large stalk of bac ha (taro stem)

12 okra pods

2 tomatoes 

2 cups of bean sprouts

Ngo om(rice paddy herb)

Directions

1. Heat garlic in a medium/large stockpot with olive oil to release aromas. Add sugar and fish sauce. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add tamarind. Continue to season to achieve desired taste. Use salt instead of fish sauce to avoid fishiness. 

2. Fill stockpot with water and broth. Bring to boil. Add okra, bac ha, and tomatoes. Cover and cook until vegetables soften up a bit.

3. Add cleaned shrimps with head intact. Cover and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Add bean sprouts and cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Transfer into serving bowl. Garnish with chopped ngo om and chili peppers. Enjoy.