Lau Mam Ca Keo (Fermented Fish Hotpot with Goby), Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener

Method

1. Simmer 500g pork bones in 3 liters of water over low heat for 1 hour, uncovered. Season with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 1 tablespoon MSG.
2. Clean the goby fish. Clean the apple snails, wash them with rice vinegar to remove the slime, then rinse with cold water.
3. Char the ngai bun until golden. Bruise the lemongrass. Halve the eggplant and cut it into diagonal slices.
4. Wash the rau dang. Peel the strings off the water lily stems, rinse and cut into lengths. Remove the yellow stamens from the sesbania flowers and rinse. Rinse the pumpkin flowers and drain.
5. Cook the mam ca sac and mam ca linh in a pot with 1 liter of fresh coconut water, then strain out the solids and keep only the liquid.
6. Fry the garlic, lemongrass and minced chili until fragrant. Add the bone stock, the strained mam liquid, the ngai bun and the bruised lemongrass, bring to a boil, then add the eggplant.
7. Bring the hotpot to the table with the goby fish, snail meat, rice vermicelli, roast pork and the greens, with fish sauce and chili for dipping.

Tips

• Soaking the apple snail meat in water with vinegar clears the slime and leaves it crisper to eat.
• Roasting the ngai bun rhizome until golden softens the fermented fish aroma and gives a clearer broth.
• Simmer the bones uncovered and skim steadily, which is what keeps the broth clear.
• Strain the fermented fish liquid well and discard the solids, so the pot does not turn gritty.
• Add the eggplant in the last five minutes, since early eggplant falls apart and clouds the pot.