Sweet-Sour-Spicy Fish Soup
Optionally, you can use sriracha or tabasco sauce instead of jalapeño pepper to make it spicy. The miso soup base Pangsigang is sour already so all we need is to balance the flavors with fish sauce and salt. Optional: you can also add shitake mushroom, sour bamboo shoot or sour mustard, to taste.
Ingredients
- 9 oz. canned mackerel or sardines
- 1 ripe tomato chopped
- 1 stick celery diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped (seeds and ribs removed for a less spicy dish)
- ½ medium onion diced
- 2 -.23 oz. packets Kool-Aid Lemonade Drink Mix or 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon
- 1.05 oz. packet Nora Kitchen Islander Style Miso Soup Base Pangsigang Sa Miso
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 seasoning packet from Chili Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup save the noodles for serving, or another use
- 1 tsp. fish sauce
- Cooked white rice or noodles for serving
Instructions
- Place a strainer over the bowl and add the fish. Set the fish aside and reserved the liquid. You should have about ⅓ cup liquid - if not, add a bit of water.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato, celery, jalapeño pepper, and onion. Add the liquid from the fish, the lemonade mix (or lemon juice), soup base, sugar and chili seasoning packet. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer until the vegetables are just tender and the onion barely changes color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the fish sauce. Taste for seasoning and add more sugar or Kool-Aid/lemon juice as needed to get an even balance of sweet and sour.
- Gently break the fish up into bite-sized chunks, and then add to the pan, stirring gently to warm the fish.
- Place cooked rice or noodles in two bowls. Split the fish mixture between the two bowls, spooning over the rice or noodles.
- Leftover soup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Notes
Editor’s notes:
- Fresh fish will work fine here as well. Choose a full-flavored, high fat fish such as mackerel, sardines, or catfish.
- We tested this recipe with the Kool-Aid Drink Mix (which is essentially just citric acid) but you may substitute fresh lemon juice instead.
- Nora Kitchen Islander Style Miso Soup Base can be found on Amazon.com.
- Taste the mixture for balance of flavors - you want to have an even mix of sweet, sour, and spicy. Add more sugar or Kool-Aid or lemon juice as needed.