Ingredients
For the soup: *400g seabass (4 pieces, bones in)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp sugar
- 300g pineapple
- 300g tomatoes (150g large tomatoes, 150g cherry tomatoes)
- 100g okra
- 100g beansprouts
- 1 medium bird’s eye chilli
- 10g rice paddy herb (ngò ôm)
- 10g Thai parsley (ngò gai)
- 2 fat garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 600ml cold water
- 100ml fresh lime juice (approx. 2 limes)
- 2–3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
For the garnish:
- 1 large red chilli (optional)
Method
Lightly season the fish pieces with salt and pepper on both sides.
Peel and chop the pineapple into four quarters. Discard the hard core and cut each quarter into small chunks (with 1.5cm sides).
Slice the large tomatoes into 1cm thick slices but leave the cherry tomatoes whole. Use firmest tomatoes.
Top and tail the okra and slice it into diagonal slices (1cm thick).
Thinly slice the bird’s eye chilli. Slice the large red chilli diagonally in thicker slices (4mm) for the garnish later.
Coarsely chop the herbs (the rice paddy herb and Thai parsley).
Finely chop the garlic cloves.
With the preparation done, in a large pan, fry the garlic in vegetable oil on a medium heat stirring constantly. Do this until you can smell a wonderful fragrance but being careful not to burn it. Only fry until the garlic is lightly coloured.
Add the pineapple chunks to the pan. Stir the pineapple so that it is coated in the garlic oil for about a minute.
Add the bird’s eye chilli and half the tomatoes (the cherry tomatoes). Give a quick stir, reduce the heat and, again, leave for about a minute.
Pour 600ml of cold water into the pan, along with the lime juice, sugar and fish sauce.
Turn the heat up bringing the pan to a boil. Taste the soup and adjust the sugar, salt and lime juice to your taste.
Once boiling, add the fish pieces and immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for one minute then add the large tomato slices and okra.
Simmer for a further two minutes, or until the fish is just cooked, and add the beansprouts before turning up the heat for the last 15 seconds so the soup is piping hot.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the herbs.
To serve, divide into four bowls and garnish with the large red chilli slices.
Tips
If you opt to use tinned pineapple chunks in natural juice, use the juice and water to make up 600ml of fluid. Use less sugar as the pineapple juice will be sweet.
The fish you use can be your preference: Basa and salmon also work well. If you are using fish fillets, add them at the same time as the second batch of tomatoes (the sliced large tomatoes) and okra as these will only need a minute to cook in the boiling broth.
Consider starting with half the amount of lime, sugar and fish sauce. Then adjust the dish to your taste.
The rice paddy herb and Thai parsley should be available in good Asian stores but, if you are unable to find them, choose herbs you like, e.g., dill, Thai basil, coriander or Vietnamese coriander.
The rice paddy herb and Thai basil tend to come in packets larger than you would use in a single recipe. Wash and coarsely chop the remainder. Store it in the freezer in a food bag. You can use portions of this, straight from frozen, for later use in soups and broths.
Reduce the quantity of chilli and/or remove the seeds if you prefer the dish to be less spicy.
