In the rainy season plenty of households turn to lau ca duoi la giang for a warming dinner. The broth is cleanly sour and the fish is soft, right down to the cartilage. Cleaning the stingray is the hard part, since a rushed job leaves the whole pot smelling strong.
Rub the fish with lightly salted water to remove the slime before cooking. The la giang leaves have to be crushed before they go in, and only then does the broth turn properly sour.
This batch weighs about 2.2kg, at roughly 30 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash the stingray in lightly salted water to remove the slime and any fishy smell, then cut it into bite sized pieces.
Rinse the la giang leaves, drain them and crush them so they release their sourness.
Rinse the greens and drain, and slice the chili thinly.
Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a pot and fry 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 1 tablespoon minced shallot until fragrant.
Pour in about 1.5 liters of water and bring to a boil, then season with 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend.
Once the water boils, add the crushed la giang and the chili for sourness and heat.
Set the pot on a burner in the middle of the table and dip the stingray and greens in as you eat, with rice vermicelli alongside.
Tips
Rubbing the la giang leaves between the fingers before they go in is what makes the broth properly sour.
Rub the stingray with lightly salted water to take off the slime before cooking.
Do not let the la giang boil too long, or the broth turns harshly sour and bitter.
Lift the fish out as soon as it is just cooked, since a long dip leaves the flesh stringy.
Cook la giang in a stainless steel or clay pot, as aluminium meets the sourness and gives a metallic smell.
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.