Textual Chef Textual Chef

Sweet and Sour Tamarind Soup with Shrimp

A vibrant Vietnamese canh chua featuring plump shrimp in a light, tangy broth made with tamarind, pineapple, and tomatoes, balanced with a touch of fish sauce and finished with fresh herbs.

60 minMediumServes 4200 cal/serving

VietnameseSoupStovetopPescatarianLow CarbDairy-FreeAlcohol-FreeCorn-Free

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs large shrimp (31-40 count), peeled, deveined
  • 1/4 cup tamarind paste (or concentrate)
  • 2 cups fresh pineapple (or canned in juice), cut into chunks
  • 4 roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed
  • 8 oz okra (or green beans), sliced into rounds
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 6 cups fish broth (or vegetable broth)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh rice paddy herb or culantro (or cilantro), roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

Instructions

  1. 1

    Heat 2 tbsp neutral oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add 4 minced garlic cloves and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.

  2. 2

    Add 6 cups fish broth (or vegetable broth) and bring to a boil. Stir in 1/4 cup tamarind paste (or concentrate) until dissolved. Add 2 cups cut into chunks fresh pineapple (or canned in juice) and 4 cut into wedges roma tomatoes.

  3. 3

    Season with 3 tbsp fish sauce and 2 tsp granulated sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes until pineapple is slightly softened.

  4. 4

    Add 8 oz sliced into rounds okra (or green beans) and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1.5 lbs peeled, deveined large shrimp (31-40 count) and cook for 3-4 minutes until the shrimp are pink and opaque and reach an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C).

  5. 5

    Add 2 cups rinsed bean sprouts and turn off the heat. The residual heat will soften them slightly while keeping some crunch.

  6. 6

    Ladle into bowls and top generously with 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh rice paddy herb or culantro (or cilantro) and 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Questions

How long does Sweet and Sour Tamarind Soup with Shrimp keep?

Refrigerate it up to four days, or freeze it in portions for up to three months. Reheat gently on the stovetop with a splash of water or stock to loosen it.

Can I halve or double Sweet and Sour Tamarind Soup with Shrimp?

Yes. As written it serves 4. Every ingredient in this entry carries precomputed half and double quantities, and the app's batch dial rewrites them inside each step. When doubling on the stovetop, use your widest pan or work in two batches so the food sears instead of steaming.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,504 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.

More Vietnamese entries

All Vietnamese recipes · All Soup recipes · All Shrimp recipes