recipe: vietnamese rice soup with fish (chao ca)

this past weekend i strolled through the ever-busy chinatown and was in awe of their vast selection of produce. i was ecstatic and wondered why i didn't come here sooner to shop. it reminded me of the wonderful food markets in asia where everything is fresh, inexpensive and can be purchased in just the desired amounts: $4 for 2 lbs of cherries, $1 for 3 bundles of green onions. all these fresh ingredients inspired me to make a vietnamese dish, which i don't do very often (probably due to the fact that i'm a bit intimidated of buying the necessary foodstuff that aren't readily available at whole foods or the local grocery stores). while i do complain that there aren't enough vietnamese restaurants in new york city, it was the perfect opportunity to brush up on my vietnamese culinary skills.



vietnamese rice soup (chao), also called congee, is a staple in the vietnamese diet, as it is in many east asian cultures. there are many different kinds of rice soups, chicken being the most common. it's often made when one feels sick. in my case, my mother would often make me a batch after those monthly visits to the orthodontist (in high school) where i couldn't eat anything harder than a banana. my favorite one she made was a fish variety. this recipe was adapted from the well-known vietnamese cooking teacher and cookbook author, andrea nguyen.



vietnamese rice soup with fish (chao ca)
(serves 2)

ingredients:
meat & marinade
1/2 - 3/4 pound firm white fish fillet (such as halibut, cod or sea bass)
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

rice soup
1/2 c jasmine rice
2 green onions
1 leek (white part only)
3 1-inch chunks of ginger (peeled)
4 c stock (chicken, seafood or vegetable)
2 c water
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt and white pepper to taste

instructions:
make sure the skin of the fillet is off before cutting it into 3/4 inch chunks. place the chunks in a medium-size bowl or tupperware container and set aside. in this recipe i used a .69 pound of halibut.

marinade
grate fresh ginger and roughly chop the cilantro then set aside. in a small bowl, combine fish sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. then add the ginger and cilantro and mix thoroughly. pour the marinade over the fish and mix until all the pieces are covered with the marinade. cover the container and refrigerate. in this "ceviche" approach to cooking, the acid in the vinegar break down the protein of the raw fish to "cook" the fish without heat.

rice soup
cut the white part of the green onions into 1-inch portions. next, cut the leek in half and then into 1-inch portions as well. finally, peel and cut fresh ginger into 1-inch chunks.

before cooking the rice, rinse the rice by putting it into a large bowl and adding water. swish the rice around with your hands until the water turns milky then drain. repeat this process one more time. this removes some of the starch from the rice.

place the rice into a large pot and turn the heat on to medium. dry out the rice grains until it turns a light golden color. add stock, water, green onions, leeks, ginger, sesame oil and fish sauce and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil. afterward, partially cover the soup and bring down the heat to a low simmer. cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice grains have opened up and the soup begins to thicken. you may want to add more water if you desire a more watery consistency. with a slotted spoon, remove the large chunks of green onion, leek and ginger from the soup to discard. add salt to taste and fresh cracked white pepper. i didn’t have any white pepper, so i used black pepper instead.

while the soup is cooking, chop up the remaining green part of the green onion and place into a small bowl. then roughly chop the cilantro and add to the bowl.

20 minutes before serving, let the fish sit out at room temperature. divide half of the fish mixture into 2 bowls by spooning the fish and placing it into the middle of the bowl. while the soup is still hot, ladle the soup into the bowls and garnish with the green onion and cilantro.

to eat, you can spoon some of the fish from the bottom and mix it into the soup to cook it a bit.