Canh Chua

It's been some time since I've had proper Mummy-cooked-Viet food. While I had been given the recipe for Canh Chua a while ago, I'd never bothered to cook it as it involved going out to get a relatively fresh fish. Also, it is a bit weird and is not usually served in Viet restaurants but eaten in many Vietnamese homes. So I opted to cook it when I was home alone.

In a hurry to get home, I had rushed to Chinatown to buy some fish. Not expecting much, I chose the freshest looking one without a bleeding eye. I was quite surprised that it had looked so fresh. I'm fine for scaling fish, but when I got home I realised the damn fish hadn't been gutted. Dammit.

I couldn't bear the fish looking me in the eye so I had to chop off his head. Too bad it took several blows with the cleaver. Poor fishy. He wasn't too happy after I did that to him.

Next, the guts. Luckily we have a filleting knife and I managed to cut out all his organs. Gross.

Anyway, the fishy made a lovely, crucial addition to my meal. I'm so proud of myself for not screwing up the dish.

Yah huh. I ate him all by myself.