Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Soup

Difficulty: Easy-Medium

Serves 4

I visit a local Vietnamese restaurant nearly every week and one of my favourite menu items is the sweet and sour soup. Last weekend I decided to give it a whirl and make my own, the results were nearly just as good. The serving sizes probably aren’t big enough for dinner without an accompaniment but perfect for a light lunch.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup tamarind puree
• 6 cups hot water
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 block tofu, cut into cubes
• 1 brown onion, cut into chunks
• 3 vegetable stock cubes
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetarian fish sauce
• 2 celery stalks, sliced diagonally
• 3/4 cup bean shoots
• 1 1/4 cups mushrooms, chopped

Method

1. Put the tamarind and a cup of hot water in a bowl and allow the tamarind to dissolve.
2. Push the mixture through a sieve and collect the liquid.
3. In a large saucepan, combine the garlic, tofu and onion. Toss around in the pan for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the tamarind liquid, remaining water, vegetable stock cubes, caster sugar and vegetarian fish sauce.
5. Bring to the boil before adding the remaining vegetables.
6. Once the vegetables are heated through, serve and garnish with chilli, fried shallots and spring onion.