A Vietnamese-style Fish Soup

One of my favourite shows to watch on Cooking Channel is Luke Nguyen's Vietnam. The show is about real people, making real food and revelling in the tastes and flavours of their land. I pray that one day I can visit Vietnam and eat to my heart's delight.

When I saw Luke make this soup on one of his shows, I knew that I had to try it. It's simple, the flavours are clear and it's done cooking in minutes. The broth is excellent on its own but drop some crusty bread into it, let the bread suck up the broth and then bite into the bread... careful, you may have something dripping from the side of your mouth.

If you like seafood, especially fish, be sure to give this recipe a try. I know you'll like it. Here is the original recipe made with cod and below you can find my adaptation.

Vietnamese-style Fish Soup

(Adapted from Luke's Vietnam)

INGREDIENTS

6 sprigs chinese celery (aka Guyanese celery)

5 whole green onions

4 cups fish stock or vegetable stock

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bird peppers, crushed

2 lbs red snapper cleaned and cut into large pieces

2 ripe tomatoes, quartered

Fish sauce to taste (substitute with salt)

Juice of 1 lime

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove the stems from the celery and bruise them with the back of a knife or rolling pin and set aside. Separate the leaves and the stems.
2. Cut off the white part of the green onions and bruise lightly. Chop green parts into 2-inch pieces and set aside.
3. Add stock to a large pot, cover and bring to a boil. When the pot comes to a boil, add celery stems, garlic and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.
4. Add fish to pot along with the white parts of the green onions and let cook on high heat for 4 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, celery leaves and fish sauce or salt to taste, stir gently and continue to cook until the fish is fork tender.
6. Toss in green onions and lime juice. Stir, taste and adjust if necessary and serve immediately.