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This soup is a result of attempting to satisfy a nostalgic home-style Vietnamese soup that my dad would make growing up (minus the fish). For the protein, it’d instead be pork spare ribs, but I’m using frozen fish for this recipe. With every meal at home, we would have a soup, protein and rice to go with the meal. I’ve made this recipe so many times to progress to the recipe that we have now – and at this point, I’ve made this same soup 10 times, and it only gets better and better.

This was my progress in testing the flavour combinations:
  1. Tomato wedges + fish sauce in water
  2. Tomato wedges + fish sauce + rau muong
  3. Tomato wedges + fish sauce + frozen fish
  4. Tomato wedges + fish sauce + frozen fish + pickled veggies
  5. Tomato wedges + fish sauce + frozen fish + pickled veggies + dill + chili

This is an incredibly quick soup with so much flavour. We love to eat it with jasmine rice or vermicelli noodles – the broth is that flavourful. I encourage you to try it! It’s incredibly quick and easy with little cleanup as it’s all in one pot! Once you get use to creating this soup, you’ll have it ready in 10 minutes (trust me).

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Vietnamese Tomato & Fish Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens

Alice
This soup is my attempt to recreate the comforting, home-style Vietnamese soup my dad used to make when I was growing up, but without the fish. In our household, every meal included a soup, a protein dish, and rice. I've fine-tuned this recipe over countless iterations to arrive at the one we have today, and I'm constantly adding new tweaks to make it even more delicious. 🥰
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vietnamese
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

Broth

  • 1/2 tbsp Neutral Oil
  • 3 Garlic cloves 1 tbsp
  • 550 g Tomato (Note 2) cut into wedges (6-8 pieces)
  • 6 cups Water
  • 700 g Frozen fish fillet defrosted, cut into 2cm length pieces
  • 2 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 2 tsp Chicken Powder
  • 1-2 Thai chili peppers sliced
  • Handful of dill chopped in 1-2″ (optional)
  • 1 bunch Green Onion

Sautéed Pickled Vegetables

  • 1 bag Pickled veggies (Note 1, Chicken brand), core cut in half, then cut into 1.5 cm length pieces
  • 1/2 tbsp Neutral oil

Optional

  • Vermicelli Noodles (200g)

Instructions
 

Noodles

  • Cook as per package instructions. Strain and rinse thoroughly. (Note 4)

Pickled Veggies

  • On medium-high heat, in a medium stock pot, add ½ tbsp of neutral oil and saute pickled veggies (reserve the brine, see Note 1). Toss for 2 minutes, and transfer to a bowl.

Soup

  • To the same pot on medium-high heat, add ½ tsp of oil and saute garlic until aromatic. Add tomatoes cut side down and sear for 2-3 minutes until the skin curls. Flip and sear for another 2 minutes.
  • Add water, fish sauce, chicken powder, sauteed pickled veggie, reserved pickled veggie brine (see Note 2) and fish (see Note 3). Simmer covered on medium for 5 minutes. Add sliced Thai chili peppers, green onions and dill (if using).
  • Before serving, add vermicelli directly to the stock pot (see Note 4), and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Notes

Note 1: The pickling juice that comes with the pickled veggies adds the perfect “sourness” to the soup! Make sure to reserve the juice, and set it to the side, I add the entire juice packet, but you can add it to your preference. My favorite Pickled Vegetable brand to use is this “Chicken” Brand– it is consistent and always has the best crunch. I like to pick ones with a big “harder” core. Usually on sale in Toronto for $1 a pack.
Note 2: Searing the tomatoes before adding water will help the tomatoes break down further. I’ve used medium-sized roma, field garden, and tomatoes on the vine – and they all work well.
Note 3: Frozen basa fish works the best in this soup. My favourite ones to pick up, are single frozen fillets in a big bag (incredibly affordable at $4 to 8). I’ve tried fresh fish, and it overwhelmingly changes the flavour and smell of the soup. By only simmering the frozen basa fish for 5 minutes, you’ll have the most tender fish!
Note 4:  For thicker, chewier noodles I love this brand, Jiangxi (requires 10 minutes of cooking time, don’t listen to the packet). And for thinner, chewy noodles, this Viet Choice brand is my go-to (5-minute cooking time). Run the noodles under cold water and rinse thoroughly for 1-2 minutes to get rid of the starch. Adding the noodles back into the soup to warm up again, will absorb all of that delicious flavour.
Keyword fish, soup, tomato, vietnamese food, vietnamese recipe, vietnamese soup