Canh Chua with Hake & Pineapple

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g frozen hake fillets (thawed)
• 1 tin of pineapple chunks in juice (200 g drained)
• 3 tomatoes (about 120 g each)
• 200 g bean sprouts
• 2 spring onions + 2 garlic cloves
• 1 chicken stock cube + 900 ml hot water
• 3 tbsp fish sauce (2 for the broth, 1 for finishing)
• 2 limes
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (15 g)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 15 g fresh coriander
• 210 g jasmine rice + 320 ml water (for cooking the rice)

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Medium saucepan with lid
• Colander
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Citrus juicer

📖 Steps

1. Thaw the hake in the fridge the day before. Pat it dry carefully with kitchen paper, then cut it into large pieces of about 4 cm: any smaller and they would fall apart in the broth. Keep in the fridge.
2. Rinse the jasmine rice in a sieve until the water runs almost clear. Put it in the medium saucepan with 320 ml water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 min over a very low heat. Leave to rest for 10 min off the heat without opening.
3. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into 8 wedges and drain the pineapple. Slice the spring onions, keeping the white and green parts separate, and chop the garlic. Rinse the beansprouts. Pick the coriander leaves and chop them roughly. Squeeze the limes.
4. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the garlic and the white of the spring onions for 1 min, without letting them brown. Add the tomatoes and pineapple and stir for 3 min: the tomatoes should start to break down.
5. Pour in the 900 ml hot water, crumble in the stock cube, then add the sugar and 2 tbsp fish sauce. Bring to the boil, reduce to a medium heat and simmer for 5 min so the broth takes on the flavour of the pineapple and tomato.
6. Lower the pieces of hake into the simmering broth, without stirring so they don't break up. Poach for 4 to 5 min at a gentle simmer, until the flesh is white and opaque and comes apart in flakes.
7. Off the heat, add the lime juice and the last spoonful of fish sauce, then taste: the broth should be sour, sweet and salty all at once. If it is too salty or too sour, thin it with a little hot water.
8. Divide the raw beansprouts between bowls and pour the boiling soup over them: they cook just enough while staying crunchy. Scatter with coriander and the green of the spring onions, and serve with a bowl of rice on the side.