Canh Chua Seafood Cioppino with Garlic Toast (Vietnamese × Italian-American)

Method

1. Scrub the mussels and pull off the beards. Tap any open mussels: throw away any that don't close. Cut the fish into 4 cm chunks and devein the shrimp. Dice the pineapple into 1 cm pieces and stir the tamarind into a little of the fish stock.

   Add in this stepMussels 300 gWhite fish fillet (cod, sea bass) 200 gPeeled shrimp 120 gTamarind paste 1 tbspFish stock 45 ml

2. Heat the olive oil in a 20 cm pot on medium heat and cook the chopped onion for 5 min until soft and translucent. Add most of the minced garlic, the pepper flakes and the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute until the paste darkens.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 1½ tbspOnion ½Garlic cloves 2.4Red pepper flakes ½ tspTomato paste 1 tbsp

   medium heat

3. Pour in the wine and boil on medium-high heat for 2 min until almost gone. Add the crushed tomatoes, the rest of the stock, the tamarind liquid, fish sauce, sugar and pineapple, lower to medium-low heat and simmer for 12 min, until slightly thickened and the sweet-sour flavours come together.

   Add in this stepDry white wine 80 mlCanned crushed tomatoes 200 gFish stock 405 mlFish sauce 1 tbspSugar 1 tspPineapple 100 g

   medium-high heat→medium-low heat

4. Meanwhile, grate the remaining garlic into the butter, spread it on the baguette and toast in an oven preheated to 200 °C (oven) for 6 min, or in a frying pan until golden on both sides.

   Add in this stepBaguette slices 4Butter, softened 20 gGarlic cloves 0.6

   oven

5. Bring the stew back up to a lively simmer on medium heat, add the fish first and cook for 2 min. Add the shrimp and mussels, cover and cook for 4 min, until the mussels open and the shrimp are pink and firm. Discard any mussels that stay closed.

   medium heat

6. Taste and balance the sweet-sour flavour with a little fish sauce or sugar, then tear the Thai basil over. Serve in deep bowls with the garlic toast for dunking.

   Add in this stepThai basil (or basil) 6 g