Vietnamese Spicy Sour Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook beef shank, oxtail pieces, and ginger in hot oil, turning occasionally, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add star anise, fennel seed, coriander seed, cloves, cinnamon stick, and cardamom pod to the pot and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Stir water, onion, garlic, white sugar, and bay leaf into beef mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until broth is flavorful and meat is falling off the bone, 5 to 6 hours. Remove meat and reserve. Strain broth into a pot; discard strained spices and vegetables.
• Chop beef shank meat and add to broth in pot; stir in fish sauce and soy sauce. Bring broth to a simmer and reduce heat to low to keep warm.
• Place rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside until noodles are softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
• Place a handful of bean sprouts in the bottom of a large soup bowl. Top with a large handful of prepared rice noodles and drop a few jalapeno slices over noodles. Ladle beef broth into bowl to cover noodles.

Steps:

• Heat peanut oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle oxtails with salt and pepper. Add oxtails to pot and brown on all sides, about 20 minutes. Transfer oxtails to large bowl. Add onions and next 6 ingredients to same pot. Sauté until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Return oxtails to pot. Add 12 cups water, beef broth and 3 tablespoons fish sauce. Cover and simmer gently until oxtails are very tender, about 3 hours.
• Using tongs, transfer oxtails to large bowl. Strain broth into another large pot; discard solids. Remove meat from oxtails; discard bones. Add meat to broth.
• Refrigerate overnight. Spoon solid fat off top of soup. Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain; rinse under cold water. Return to same pot. Toss noodles with sesame oil.
• Bring soup to boil. Divide noodles, sprouts and next 6 ingredients among 6 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with lime wedges and additional fish sauce.
• *Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets nationwide.

Steps:

• Soak the dried mushrooms and tiger lily buds in warm water for 20 minutes. After trimming off any tough stems, slice the mushrooms. With the fingers, shred the tiger lily stems.
• Place the mushrooms, tiger lily buds, stock, bamboo shoots, and shredded pork into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in soy sauce, sugar, salt, white pepper, and vinegar. Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water. Add a little of the hot soup to the cornstarch, and then return all to the pan. Heat to boiling, stirring. Add the bean curd, and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
• Just before serving, turn off the heat. Stir the egg in gradually. Mix in sesame oil. Sprinkle each serving with scallions.

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring broth, lemongrass, mushrooms, and onion to a boil.
• Add shrimp, fish sauce and lime juice to the pot.
• Cook until shrimp is opaque (1 - 2 minutes).
• Add rice noodles and heat another minute.
• Serve in soup bowls with garnishes as desired.

Steps:

• Whisk tamarind with 80 ml water and set aside.
• Dust shrimp with cornstarch. Heat 30 ml/2 tbsp of oil in large frying pan over medium heat and stir-fry shrimp just until pink, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• In large saucepan, heat stock and tamarind juice over medium heat. Add celery, pineapple, tomato, okra, ginger, garlic and chilies; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add sprouts. Stir in fish sauce, sugar and salt.
• Heat remaining 15 ml/1 tbsp oil in frying pan and stir-fry shallots until golden, taking care not to burn, about four minutes.
• Add shrimp to soup, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and serve, garnished with shallots and fresh cilantro. Serves 6-8.
• Note: Try to use fresh pineapple, not canned, for this dish. It makes all the difference.