Sweet-and-Sour Thai Fish Soup

Ingredients

• 1 fillet anchovy 
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar 
• 0.1 teaspoon cayenne 
• 0.5 cup cilantro leaves chopped
• 3 cups bottled clam juice 
• 0.5 small cucumber trimmed peeled seeded cut into thin julienne strips
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon ginger fresh grated
• 1  garlic clove minced
• 2 cups iceberg lettuce shredded
• 6  radishes thinly sliced
• 1 cup rice long-grain uncooked
• 2  scallions sliced
• 4  shallots peeled coarsely chopped
• 1 cup snow peas 
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste with 2 tablespoons water, (use 1 tablespoon lime juice if tamarind paste is not available) softened
• 1 pounds fish fillets white cut into 1-inch pieces (cod, halibut, or snapper)

Equipment

• food processor
• bowl
• ladle
• pot
• blender

Directions

1. In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook rice until tender.
2. Drain, set aside, and keep warm.
3. In a food processor or blender, combine shallots, garlic, chopped cilantro, ginger, tamarind paste, anchovy, and brown sugar and puree until smooth.
4. In a soup pot, combine puree, cayenne, fish sauce, and clam juice and bring to a boil.
5. Add fish and let simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add rice and simmer for 2 minutes.
7. Remove soup from the heat and stir in lettuce, radishes, and snow peas. Ladle soup into bowls and serve sprinkled with scallions, cilantro leaves, and cucumber.