Canh Chua Tom Bau (Sour Shrimp Soup with Bottle Gourd)
Vietnamese dishesSoupsSouthern Vietnam20 minutes
A meal on a hot day often starts with canh chua tom nau bau. It takes only about twenty minutes, but the gourd is where it can go wrong, since long cooking leaves it soft, the broth cloudy and the aroma flat.
The shrimp goes in as soon as the tamarind water is poured rather than waiting for the boil. It takes on the sourness and the pot smells far better for it. The gourd is sliced thin and goes in last, and the heat goes off as soon as the pot returns to a boil.
This batch weighs about 2.3kg, at roughly 24 calories per 100g. It suits a family meal.
Method
Trim the heads and tails from 300g shrimp and rinse. Peel the gourd and slice it thinly, and cut the tomatoes into wedges.
Soak the block of tamarind until soft, mash it and strain for the juice. Pour the tamarind water into a pot with 1 liter of water and add the shrimp at this stage.
Set the pot over the heat, and once it boils, add the tomato.
Season with 2 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon MSG, and stir until dissolved.
Add the gourd first, then the bean sprouts and rau hue, drop a few slices of chili on top and turn off the heat.
Tips
Do not cook the gourd long, since soft gourd loses its crunch and clouds the broth.
Adding the shrimp with the tamarind water from the start lets it take on the sourness and gives the pot more aroma.
Slice the gourd evenly thin, since mixed thicknesses leave some pieces mushy and others underdone.
The bean sprouts and rau hue go in last and the heat goes off straight away, which keeps them crisp.
Every piece of tamarind has its own sourness, so taste the broth before seasoning further.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.