Ca dua xao chua ngot suits an evening meal when there is half dried fish in the house. The pleasure is firm, fragrant pieces of fish coated in a lightly thickened sweet and sour sauce.
Keeping the pieces whole is the difficult part, since rough stirring breaks them up. Fry the fish briefly at 170 degrees C until lightly golden and drain it before it goes into the sauce. The sauce itself needs only 2 to 3 minutes to thicken slightly.
This batch weighs about 1kg, at roughly 69 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 400g half dried ca dua catfish and cut it into bite sized pieces. Cut the onion into wedges, the tomato into segments, slice 100g pineapple and cut half a bell pepper into strips.
Season the fish with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper and 1 teaspoon minced garlic for 10 minutes, which seasons it and softens any strong smell.
Heat oil to 170 degrees C and fry the fish briefly until lightly golden, then lift it out to drain.
Mix 20g tamarind with hot water and strain it to get the tamarind liquid.
Heat oil in a pan, fry the garlic until fragrant, then add the tomato, pineapple and bell pepper and stir fry quickly. Season with 1.5 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, the tamarind liquid and 50ml water, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
Return the fried fish to the pan, stir gently and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes over medium heat so it takes on the sauce.
Scatter over 2 sprigs of spring onion and a little ground pepper, turn off the heat and serve.
Tips
Fry the fish briefly at 170C and drain it, so the pieces do not break in the stir fry.
Cook the sauce for exactly 2 to 3 minutes, just until slightly thick.
Move the fish with chopsticks and shake the pan rather than stirring hard.
One day dried fish is already salty, so taste again after the fish sauce goes in before adding more.
Cook the pineapple and tomato until they release their liquid before seasoning, as seasoning first turns the sauce harshly salty.
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.