Cut this fruit into small pieces and cook it with fish: No more fishy smell, the fish is firm and delicious.

This type of fruit is famous for its “green shell, red flesh”. It used to grow wild and fall off the tree, but now it is used in cooking, delicious and good for health.

This type of fruit is called Chay fruit!

When unripe, Chay fruit has a sour taste. When ripe, it is both sour and sweet, which many people enjoy eating.

Dishes made from Chay fruit have a sour taste that helps cool the body in summer, while also bringing back the simple flavors of the homeland.

According to a scientific study, Chay fruit is an ingredient in many traditional Vietnamese medicines. It has a sour taste and neutral properties, used to treat cough due to lung heat, coughing with blood, sore throat, vomiting blood, bleeding gums, or cases of gastric hypochlorhydria.

In addition, Chay fruit contains many important compounds that help support digestion, stimulate appetite, and promote bowel movements.

Below, I will guide you in cooking a delicious fish stew with Chay fruit

Ingredients for fish stew with Chay fruit:

– 1.5kg cleaned and gutted fish.

– 6-7 pieces of ginger.

– Old ginger.

– 5 dried onions.

– Self-made broth.

– 10 tablespoons of fish sauce.

– Boiling water.

– Vinegar, sea salt.

– 3-5 chilli peppers.

– 5 large Chay fruits.

– 500g pork belly.

How to cook fish stew with Chay fruit:

– Clean the fish and wash with vinegar or lime juice and sea salt to remove any fishy smell.

– Pat the fish dry with paper towels or let it air dry.

– Marinate the fish with 1 tablespoon of sea salt for about 1-2 hours to firm up the fish.

– Cut the pork belly into thick slices as it will shrink during the long cooking process.

– Wash and slice the Chay fruit.

– Pound the ginger, slice the old ginger, and grind part of it into a paste. Slice the dried onions.

– Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion, ginger, and old ginger until fragrant.

– Add this mixture to the bottom of the pot.

– Continue to layer the ingredients: Chay fruit slices, pork belly, fish, pork belly, Chay fruit slices, ground ginger, chilli peppers.

– Pour in fish sauce and self-made broth, evenly pour it over the surface of the fish pot.

– Finally, pour boiling water (100 degrees Celsius) on top of the fish pot.

– Simmer the fish stew for 2 hours. Initially, use high heat to bring the fish to a boil quickly and evenly distribute the spices. After boiling for about 30 minutes, reduce the heat to low to allow the fish to absorb the flavors and become more flavorful. When the pot is almost out of water and the sauce has thickened, it is done.

– Let the fish cool and then transfer it to a plate to prevent the fish from breaking. Chay fruit stew goes well with rice.

Other delicious dishes made from Chay fruit

Sour soup with Chay fruit and pork ribs

This dish is similar to sour soup with Chay fruit and fish. You just need to replace the fish with pork ribs. The ingredients needed are 1kg pork ribs, 1-2 fresh Chay fruits or 10-12 dried Chay fruit slices, 2 tomatoes, spring onions, dill, tomatoes, cooking oil, and some seasonings (fish sauce, salt, and MSG).

After purchasing the pork ribs, blanch them in boiling water to remove impurities, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add the Chay fruit to the pot while simmering the ribs to infuse the sour taste into the broth. After the ribs are cooked, take them out and crush them to release the sour flavor. Then sauté the onions and tomatoes until fragrant. Pour this mixture into the pot with the simmered ribs, add seasonings to taste. Once the soup is ready, add the spring onions and dill.

Sour soup with Chay fruit and fish

Sour soup is a familiar dish in Vietnamese cuisine. The green Chay fruit used to make sour soup can be fresh or dried slices.

The ingredients are very simple: 1kg fish (you can choose different types of fish), 1-2 fresh Chay fruits or 10-12 dried Chay fruit slices, 2 tomatoes, spring onions, dill, chili peppers, tomatoes, cooking oil, and some seasonings (fish sauce, salt, MSG)

Preparation: Clean the fish and cut it into bite-sized pieces, lightly fry the fish with cooking oil. Sauté the dried onions until fragrant, add the tomatoes to sauté and give it color, then add 2 bowls of hot water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the fried fish and the Chay fruit that has been prepared. After cooking the fish for about 10-15 minutes, season to taste. Finally, turn off the heat and add spring onions and dill, and the delicious sour soup is ready.