This belongs to the flood season, when the young fish are soft fleshed and barely bony. The sourness of fresh green tamarind against fresh coconut water gives the pot both tartness and sweetness. The difficulty is that the fish falls apart with too much stirring.
The fish is seasoned for 10 to 15 minutes with nuoc mau before braising. Fresh coconut water replaces plain water entirely, which gives the pot a natural sweetness, and in the last stage the heat drops low and the fish is turned only once.
This batch weighs about 1.4kg, at roughly 136 calories per 100g.
Method
Scale 300g young ca linh fish, clean out the innards, wash them and drain them. Wash the spring onion, tamarind and chili, and chop the spring onion.
Put the fish in a pot and season it with 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon coarse salt, 1 teaspoon nuoc mau and 1/2 teaspoon MSG. Mix well and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the 3 tamarinds to the pot with 2 bowls of fresh coconut water and braise over medium heat for 5 minutes until the fish is cooked.
Turn the fish once, gently, and braise for another 5 to 10 minutes over low heat. Add the spring onion, adjust the seasoning and turn off the heat, then scatter the chili on top.
Tips
Fifteen minutes in lightly salted water or rice washing water takes the muddiness out of the fish.
Low heat in the final stage lets the flavor soak in without breaking the fish up.
Nuoc mau (caramel sauce) stays at 1 teaspoon, since a heavy hand turns the pot bitter and dark.
Crush the tamarinds lightly in the pot near the end to release all their sourness.
Add the chili and spring onion right as the heat goes off to keep their aroma.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.