Canned Sardine Soup

Canned sardine is a versatile food which we can use to cook many dishes. There are several types of canned sardines, such as sardine in oil and sardine or tuna in tomato sauce. The way it is processed made sardines bones to be soft and edible. This makes the canned sardine more convenient to be consumed and also simplified the fish sandwich making process. 

Today I cooked a simple dish out of a canned sardine. This is initially my father's recipe and we eat this with rice. I call it Canned Sardine Soup. It is a thin soup made with some spices and canned sardine with its tomato sauce. Even though it is thin in consistency this soup is flavorful. It is suitable to be made for lunch, dinner and during weekend. Lets check the recipe.  

Ingredients

• 1 canned sardines in tomato sauce (400 to 500g)
• 7 cloves garlic
• 3 dried chilies cut in 1 inch long and soaked 5 minutes in hot water or 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper powder or 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 cup tamarind juice from 1 1/2 tablespoon tamarind
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1/2 palm sugar
• 1 onion
• 2 to 3 tablespoons salt
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 2 cups of water
• Some bird's eye chili and some kaffir lime leaves if you like

Methods

• Heat the cooking oil in a big pan.
• Add in garlic and strained dried chili.
• Cook until aromatic and a bit golden.
• Add in black pepper and then tamarind juice.
• Add in kaffir lime and crushed bird's eye chili
• Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add in water, tomato ketchup, soy sauce and salt. 
• Add in the canned Sardine with its tomato sauce (I used half of the sauce only).
• Add in palm sugar, spread it in the soup.
• Taste test.
• When the soup boils, add in sliced onions.
• After around 3 minutes turn off the heat.