INGREDIENTS

  • 1 full bronzing or a black bass of 1 lb., should be filleted, head and skeleton should be saved in just 1 piece
  • 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • Approx. 1 tablespoon of Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
  • 1 cup of thinly and finely sliced shallots (from around 3 large)
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic (minced)
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger (1 in. by 2 in.). chop into ¼ inch thick coins
  • 1 Serrano or Thai Chile stemmed and sliced diagonally
  • 1/3 cup of chopped cilantro (fresh)
  • 2 teaspoons of juice squeezed out from lime
  • 2 tablespoons of garlic (toasted)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Slice the fillets of fish. Slice the fillets of fish into 1 inch wide strips. After slicing it place it in a medium-sized bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of sauce of fish and the corn-starch also and toss all of them to coat it evenly.
  2. Heat the oil. Heat the oil of vegetable in a large sized pot over medium flame. After heating it, add some shallots and cook it properly. Stir the shallots occasionally, until they become soft, for approximately 5 minutes. Add some garlic and cook it for the duration for a further 30 seconds. Then, add some tomatoes, ginger, head, and skeleton of fish, Chile and 2 cups of water. After this increase the flame from medium to high and bring it immediately to a simmer. Then, lower the flame to a low simmer and cook it by uncovering it for the duration of 1 hour. Now, remove the skeleton and head of fish and discard.

  1. Add the strips of fish. Add the juice squeezed out from lime and also add strips of fish immediately before serving the dish. Now, after this, simmer it to the duration of around 5 minutes. Simmer it until the fish becomes completely opaque and no portion should be left transparent or translucent. Now, taste the broth and as per your taste add some more fish sauce. Finally, ladle the dish into warmed bowls of soup and season it with toasted garlic and cilantro. The dish is ready to serve. Serve it immediately.

NOTES

  • A fishmonger can perfectly fillet the delicious fish for your taste, but make sure to add head and bones as they provide rich flavor to the obtained soup.
  • Fish sauce is not compulsory and you can add curry sauce or any other sauce in place of fish sauce.