Ca thu sot ca chua nuoc che xanh is good for its thick red sauce and fish that smells clean rather than fishy. The difficulty is judging the heat so the fish softens while the sauce keeps its body.
100ml of green tea infusion cooked into the tomato sauce is what clears the smell here. The fish is fried golden on both sides before it goes into the sauce, then simmers for 10 minutes and gets turned now and then.
This batch weighs about 1kg, at roughly 106 calories per 100g.
Method
Trim the fins, gills and guts from the mackerel and scrape the black membrane out of the belly. Rub coarse salt all over the fish, rinse it and pat it dry.
Marinate the fish with 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder for 10 to 15 minutes.
Dice most of the tomato so it can cook down into a smooth red base, and cut the rest into wedges to add later. Finely chop the shallots, and slice some of the ginger while mincing the rest.
Heat 3 tablespoons cooking oil, drop in a few slices of ginger, then fry the fish until golden on both sides, without overcooking it. Lift it onto a plate.
In the same oil, fry the chopped shallot and minced ginger until fragrant, add the diced tomato and stir, then add 1 teaspoon seasoning salt so the tomato breaks down faster.
Once the tomato is smooth, add 2.5 tablespoons tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon ketchup, 2.5 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 100ml green tea infusion, and stir well.
When the sauce boils, lower the fish in and spoon the sauce over it, cover and simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, turning the fish now and then.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the tomato wedges, adjust the seasoning and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, then lift the fish onto a plate.
Drop the spring onion, dill and chili into the pan of sauce, scatter over pepper, stir for 5 to 6 seconds, turn off the heat and pour the sauce over the fish.
Tips
Leaving the lid off while the mackerel cooks lets the smell escape, and low heat keeps the flesh soft.
Without fresh green tea leaves, ordinary brewed tea does the same job on the smell.
Taste twice, 5 minutes apart, to judge the sweetness properly.
Golden on both sides is enough frying, since heavily fried fish turns dry.
Splitting the tomato in two, diced for the sauce and wedges added at the end, gives both a smooth base and whole pieces.
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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.