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Sekai Gohan
Talabaw: Karen Bamboo Shoot and Fish Soup from Myanmar
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Snakehead fish (Channa), or a firm white fish fillet | 3 oz (80 g) | Main protein and the fish aroma of the broth |
| Onion | 1 | Sweetness and the savoury base, thinly sliced |
| Garlic | ¾ oz (20 g) | Aroma, thinly sliced |
| Toasted pounded rice, or rice flour toasted in a dry pan | 2 dinner spoons | Body and toasty depth; the backbone of the soup |
| Bamboo shoots, water-packed or canned | 1¾ oz (50 g) | Main vegetable and bite, thinly sliced |
| Fresh basil leaves | 1 small bunch | Fresh aroma to finish |
| Fish sauce | 1 tbsp | Saltiness and savouriness |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | Sweetness that balances the fish sauce and the bamboo |
| Ground pepper | ½ tsp | Final edge |
| Water | as needed | For the soup, and separately for boiling the shoots |
| Salt | a little | Only for the water when boiling raw shoots |
Steps
1Toast the rice powder
Set a heavy dry skillet on the stove and add the rice flour. Stir it constantly so the powder at the edges does not scorch while the centre stays white. After 6 to 8 minutes it turns deep gold and smells like popcorn. Tip it onto a plate straight away so it stops browning. If you started from whole rice grains, toast them the same way, let them cool and grind them coarse, somewhere between sand and flour. The powder is ready when the colour is even gold all through.
2Make the rice base and bring it to a boil
Put the toasted powder in a small bowl and stir in a little cold water until it is smooth, with no dry clumps. Pour water into the soup pot, enough that the onion, bamboo and fish will later sit just under the surface. Stir in the rice slurry and bring it to a boil, stirring so nothing settles on the bottom. Then lower the heat to a steady simmer. The base is right when it is smooth, light golden-brown.
3Boil the bamboo shoots in a separate pot
For water-packed or canned shoots, rinse them under running water, slice them thinly and boil them in fresh water in a second pot. For raw shoots, halve them lengthwise, peel off the tough outer layers, cut away the fibrous base and slice them thinly. Boil the slices in lightly salted water for 15 minutes with the lid slightly ajar. Drain the shoots and pour all of the water away. For raw shoots it is the full 15 minutes of boiling that makes them safe, not how tender they look.
4Grill the fish lightly
Pat the fish dry and cut it into a few pieces. Grill it in a hot skillet or under the grill, turning once, so both sides take light colour. Keep it brief: the fish finishes cooking in the soup. Stop when the surface is pale gold and the inside is still moist.
5Add the onion, garlic and bamboo to the boiling soup
Thinly slice the onion and garlic. Bring the rice base back up to a boil and add the onion and garlic, then the drained bamboo shoots. If the soup has thickened too much while it waited, loosen it with a little hot water. Let it bubble gently until the onion is soft and translucent and the garlic smells sweet.
6Add the fish and season
Slide the grilled fish into the pot, then add the fish sauce, sugar and pepper. Stir by gently lifting from the bottom of the pot rather than beating the soup, so the fish pieces stay whole. Let it simmer until the fish is hot all the way through and flakes at the edges but still holds its shape. Taste: you want savoury and sweet in balance, with the pepper noticeable at the end.
7Turn off the heat and scatter the basil
Turn the heat off. Scatter the basil leaves over the surface of the soup and bring the pot straight to the table. The leaves wilt just slightly in the heat, stay bright green, and release their aroma as the pot is set down.