Sweet and Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua)
A bright, tangy fish soup from the Mekong Delta, built on tamarind, ripe pineapple and tomato, with okra, bean sprouts and a shower of fresh herbs. Sour, sweet, salty and a little spicy, all in one bowl.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Marinate fish, soak tamarind
Toss the fish chunks with the fish sauce and let them sit while you work. Soak the tamarind pulp in the hot water for 10 minutes, then mash it well with a spoon and strain through a sieve, pressing out all the juice; discard the seeds and fibres.
- 500 g fish
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 40 g tamarind pulp
- 200 ml hot water
✅ Done when: the tamarind liquid is smooth with no fibres left, and the fish is lightly seasoned
Build the sour base
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat and sauté the garlic and shallot until fragrant. Add the tomato wedges and cook for 2–3 minutes until they soften and release their juice; this is the backbone of the broth's flavour. Pour in the water (or stock) and the strained tamarind juice, and bring to a boil.
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 shallots
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 litre water or stock
- 40 g tamarind juice (strained, from step 1)
✅ Done when: the tomatoes have broken down a little and the broth is boiling and smells tangy and fragrant
Simmer the fish gently
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Add the vegetables
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Season and balance
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Finish and serve
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Marinate fish, soak tamarind
Toss the fish chunks with the fish sauce and let them sit while you work. Soak the tamarind pulp in the hot water for 10 minutes, then mash it well with a spoon and strain through a sieve, pressing out all the juice; discard the seeds and fibres.
- 500 g fish
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 40 g tamarind pulp
- 200 ml hot water
✅ Done when: the tamarind liquid is smooth with no fibres left, and the fish is lightly seasoned
Build the sour base
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat and sauté the garlic and shallot until fragrant. Add the tomato wedges and cook for 2–3 minutes until they soften and release their juice; this is the backbone of the broth's flavour. Pour in the water (or stock) and the strained tamarind juice, and bring to a boil.
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 shallots
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 litre water or stock
- 40 g tamarind juice (strained, from step 1)
✅ Done when: the tomatoes have broken down a little and the broth is boiling and smells tangy and fragrant
Simmer the fish gently
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Add the vegetables
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Season and balance
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Finish and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Canh chua grew out of the Mekong Delta's abundance of freshwater fish, tropical fruit and rice-field herbs. Farming families built the soup around whatever was fresh that day — a catfish from the canal, a ripe pineapple, tomatoes and okra from the garden — souring it with tamarind instead of vinegar or lime, which gives it a deeper, rounder tartness.
The dish reflects the blended food culture of the Delta, where Vietnamese, Khmer and Chinese cooking traditions have long lived side by side. It remains a staple of southern home cooking, almost always served alongside kho (a salty braised fish or meat) and a bowl of rice, so that one dish's sourness balances the other's richness.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Canh chua is one of the clearest expressions of southern Vietnamese flavour: sour, sweet, salty and herbal all at once, built entirely from humble, local ingredients.
💡 Fun Fact
In the Mekong Delta, 'canh chua, cá kho' (sour soup and braised fish) is considered a classic, inseparable pairing for the everyday family meal.
Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam
10.05°N, 105.75°E
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