What Delicious Dishes Can You Make with Snakehead Fish? 8 Flavorful Preparation Ideas

Anabas fish is a familiar freshwater fish of the Vietnamese countryside, associated with rustic yet flavorful meals. The fish meat is firm, naturally sweet, and easy to prepare into many attractive dishes. If you are wondering what to cook with Anabas fish to change the flavor for your family menu, do not miss this article. Let’s refer to 8 easy and quick recipes for dishes from Anabas fish.

1. What to cook with Anabas fish?

Anabas fish can be processed into many delicious, easy-to-eat dishes suitable for daily meals such as braising, frying, cooking soup, noodles, or sticky rice. Here are suggestions for cooking flavorful Anabas fish without being too complicated:

1.1. Anabas fish braised in a clay pot

Necessary ingredients:

• 400g Anabas fish
• 2 cloves of garlic, 2 chili peppers
• 10g green onions, 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 teaspoon MSG

Steps to make braised Anabas fish:

• Proceed to clean the Anabas fish by removing fins, gills, innards, and scales. Then wash with salt water to remove the fishy smell and let drain. Peel and crush the garlic, then mince it. Separate the white parts of the green onions, crush and cut into sections, and finely chop the green leaves.
• Put cooking oil and sugar in a pan, then simmer over low heat until the sugar melts, thickens, and turns a beautiful amber color, then turn off the heat. Next, sauté the white onion parts and minced garlic until fragrant, then add fish sauce and sugar and stir well. Add filtered water, then heat gently for the mixture to boil again and blend together.
• Arrange the Anabas fish in the colored water pot and flip both sides so the fish absorbs the seasoning. Then add the chili peppers and MSG, gently turning the fish. When the fish pot boils, you should lower the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the sauce thickens, season with pepper and sprinkle green onions then turn off the heat.

1.2. Crispy fried Anabas fish

Prepare ingredients:

• 400g Anabas fish
• White wine, table salt
• Lard or cooking oil

Instructions for making crispy fried Anabas fish:

• Clean the Anabas fish innards, wash the belly carefully to remove the fishy smell. Then toss the fish with a little salt and white wine to remove slime, then rinse with clean water and drain thoroughly before frying.
• Next, put a pan on the stove, heat it up slowly so the heat spreads evenly. Add lard or cooking oil in an amount sufficient to submerge the fish. When the oil reaches moderate heat (test by putting the tip of a chopstick in and seeing light bubbling), you can fry. If using a regular pan, you can lightly rub a slice of ginger on the pan to limit the fish from sticking.
• Put the fish in the pan in small batches, arranging them sparsely so they don’t stick together. Keep the fish still until one side is golden and crispy before flipping to the other side. Fry until the fish is evenly golden brown and fragrant, then take it out and place it on oil-absorbent paper.

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1.3. Anabas fish sour soup

Ingredients:

• 4 Anabas fish
• 1 tomato, 1 chili
• 200g okra, 400g water lily stems
• 50g ripe tamarind, 2 sprigs of Thai basil
• 2 sprigs of culantro, 2 sprigs of rice paddy herb
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil, 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

How to perform the Anabas fish soup dish as follows:

• After buying the fish, you clean the innards, gills, and scales, wash with diluted salt water to remove the fishy smell, then rinse with clean water and drain.
• Remove the old parts of the water lily stems, wash and cut into 3-4cm sections. Cut okra diagonally, and slice tomatoes into wedges. Soak ripe tamarind in about 150ml of hot water for about 10 minutes then strain to get the juice. Wash Thai basil, rice paddy herb, and culantro then chop them.
• Next, you put a pot on the stove, heat cooking oil over medium heat and sauté minced garlic until fragrant. Put the fish in the pot and gently flip so the fish is evenly coated with garlic and fry for about 1-2 minutes for the fish to firm up.
• Continue to add 800ml of filtered water to the fish pot, then cook over high heat until the water boils and skim off the white foam. Season with sugar, tamarind juice, salt, and fish sauce, stir well so the broth is moderately sweet and sour.
• Then lower to medium heat and add okra and tomatoes, cook until tender. Finally, add water lily stems and sprinkle herbs (culantro, rice paddy herb, Thai basil) along with sliced red chili on top.

1.4. Anabas fish noodle soup

Necessary ingredients:

• 500g Anabas fish
• 300g pork bones or chicken bones
• 500g fresh rice vermicelli, 4 tomatoes
• 2 shallots, 1 fresh ginger root
• 1 bunch of water spinach or sweet leaf (rau ngót)
• ½ bunch of dill, ½ bunch of green onions
• 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper, 4 tablespoons cooking oil
• A little salt

How to cook Anabas fish noodle soup:

• Clean Anabas fish innards, gills, and scales, then rub with salt to remove slime, then rinse with water. Wash pork bones, cut into bite-sized pieces and blanch in boiling water for about 3 minutes to remove the fishy smell.
• Cut tomatoes into wedges, peel and mince shallots, and julienne the ginger. Cut water spinach into sections, finely chop dill and green onions, wash thoroughly and drain.
• Put bones in a pot of water, simmer over medium heat to get a sweet broth. At the same time, boil Anabas fish until cooked, take out to cool, then separate the meat, being gentle so the fish doesn’t break. Next, marinate the fish meat with seasoning powder, pepper, turmeric powder, and julienned ginger. Crush the fish bones and heads, then filter to get the juice to cook the broth for a richer flavor.
• Sauté shallots with hot oil then add tomatoes and stir-fry until soft, season to taste. Then pour the bone broth, fish boiling water, and fish bone filtered water into a large pot, bring to a boil, then pour in the tomatoes, add seasoning and julienned ginger.
• Next, divide the fish into two parts with one half fried golden crispy, taken out to drain oil. The other half is sautéed with fried shallots to add bold flavor.
• Finally, blanch the water spinach with boiling water, arrange noodles in a bowl, then place fried fish and sautéed fish on top, pour over hot broth, then sprinkle chopped green onions and dill.

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1.5. Anabas fish grilled in banana leaves

Necessary ingredients:

• Anabas fish
• 1 large banana leaf blade
• Granulated salt to marinate fish
• Toothpicks or thin wire to fix banana leaves
• Mint or purple basil
• Shrimp salt and lime to make dipping sauce

Instructions for grilling Anabas fish with banana leaves:

• First, clean the scales, gills, innards, and tail of the fish, then rub with salt to remove fishy smell and slime, then rinse the fish again.
• Next, wash both sides of the banana leaves, sun-dry for about 15 minutes so the leaves wilt and soften, easy to roll and not tear when grilling. Cut the leaves into sections about 30cm long enough to cover around the fish and limit burning.
• Then you spread a layer of basil on the banana leaf, place the Anabas fish on top and cover with another layer of basil. Roll the banana leaf around the fish then use toothpicks or wire to fix it so the leaf doesn’t come apart during grilling.
• Prepare a charcoal stove, keeping the grill about 10-12cm from the coal to avoid burning. Next, put the fish on to grill each side for about 2 minutes, then flip continuously for about 15 minutes until the fish is evenly cooked and fragrant.
• When the fish is cooked, proceed to remove the banana leaves, basil leaves and enjoy the fish with shrimp salt dipping sauce mixed with lime to make the dish more flavorful and attractive.

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1.6. Sticky rice with Anabas fish

Ingredients for making sticky rice with Anabas fish

• 300g Anabas fish
• 100g glutinous rice
• 200ml cooking oil, 1/2 teaspoon MSG
• 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, a little salt

Steps to make sticky rice with Anabas fish as follows:

• Clean Anabas fish scales, remove gills, innards, and clotted blood. Rub salt on the fish surface for about 3-5 minutes, rinse many times with clean water and drain.
• Put the fish in a pot with 400ml water, seasoning powder, and MSG, then simmer over low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the fish is tender. After that, separate the fish meat and bones.
• Next, wash the glutinous rice 1-2 times to remove dirt, drain the water. Then put the fish bones in a mortar and crush them, add 300ml of fish boiling water and stir well. Strain through a sieve many times to get the juice and remove remaining bones.
• Put the fish bone juice into the glutinous rice pot, cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes until the sticky rice is soft. You can use a rice cooker for convenience and to avoid burning the rice. Then heat a pan with 200ml oil, then fry the fish meat until golden brown on both sides for about 10-13 minutes. Finally, mix the fried fish into the cooked sticky rice pot, stir well and present on a plate.

1.7. Anabas fish and mustard greens soup

Necessary ingredients:

• 300g Anabas fish
• 300g mustard greens
• 1 lime, 1 sprig of ginger
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 300ml filtered water
• A little salt, ground pepper

How to cook mustard greens and Anabas fish soup

• First, when buying fish, wash the scales, remove gills and innards. Rub lime and salt on the fish body for about 3 minutes to remove the fishy smell, then rinse many times with clean water. Put the fish in a pot with 300ml of filtered water and boil over medium heat for about 30 minutes until the fish meat is soft. Take the fish out and separate the meat, keeping the boiling water to cook soup.
• Pick the mustard greens to remove old leaves and pests, wash thoroughly, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Peel the ginger then cut into small strips about 2 finger joints long.
• Next, you pour the fish boiling water into a pot, add 300ml filtered water, bring to a boil over high heat. Put the fish meat and mustard greens into the pot, continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Add ginger, season with fish sauce, salt, and ground pepper, season to taste then turn off the heat.
• Finally, ladle the soup into a bowl and serve while still hot. The soup is sweet and light, the fish meat is soft, the mustard greens are refreshing, creating a nutritious and attractive soup.

1.8 Anabas fish flat rice noodles

Ingredients:

• 500g Anabas fish
• 300g flat rice noodles (bánh đa)
• 300g pork bones or bone broth
• 1-2 tomatoes, 1 bunch of water celery
• Green onions, dill, shallots, ginger
• Raw vegetables served along
• 1 teaspoon salt, 3 teaspoons cooking oil

Steps to make Anabas fish flat rice noodles as follows:

• Clean Anabas fish, remove innards, head, and scales, rub salt to remove slime. Wash pork bones with vinegar to remove odor. Pick water celery, cut into sections, wash and drain. Cut tomatoes into wedges, cut green onions and dill into sections. Soak flat rice noodles in cold water to soften, then blanch briefly in boiling water.
• Then boil the fish until cooked, separate the meat, keep the bones and fish heads to crush for juice. Boil pork bones separately to get stewed broth. Mix the bone broth with the fish juice and simmer over low heat, season with 1 teaspoon of salt.
• Next, sauté minced shallots with cooking oil, then stir-fry tomatoes with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder until soft. Add this mixture to the broth pot, add a few slices of julienned ginger so the water isn’t fishy, then season to taste.
• Fry the separated fish meat until golden on both sides and take out to oil-absorbent paper. Finally, blanch the water celery briefly in the broth, arrange flat rice noodles in a bowl, add fried fish and blanched vegetables, then sprinkle green onions and dill. Pour hot broth in and enjoy immediately.

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2. Nutritional value of Anabas fish

Anabas fish has firm, fragrant, moderately fatty meat and is easy to digest, making it suitable for many ages. In 100g of fish meat, it provides about 126 Kcal along with a balanced source of nutrients such as 19.1g protein, 5.5g lipid, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1, and nicotinic acid. Thanks to that, Anabas fish helps strengthen muscle health, support joints, improve brain activity, sedative, supplement blood qi, good for the cardiovascular system, slow down skin aging, and promote the wound healing process.

Above are the suggestions for attractive Anabas fish dishes, both delicious and good for health. Hopefully, it has helped you answer the question “what to cook with Anabas fish” at the beginning of the post and don’t forget to visit the Blog page of Ola Squid to learn more useful articles! If you are a seafood lover, besides fresh fish dishes, you can also explore our premium whole dried squid products for more diverse and delicious meals.