Catfish and miso sour soup

This recipe would have been posted a lot sooner had I been able to find more information about kanduli. I never really thought it was just another variety of catfish. In fact, I didn’t realize there was more than one catfish. The only catfish I know is called hito and it’s dark gray to black in color, not silver to light gray. But after several days of on-and-off searching for the English name of kanduli — I got the same thing. Catfish. So, I’m done with the searching. The recipe is more important than the name of the fish anyway. Just remember, this dish does not use the black catfish Filipinos call hito. Kanduli is silver to light gray and, like the hito, it has cat-like whiskers too.

Sinigang na kanduli sa miso

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 k. of kanduli (about two whole fish), sliced into serving size pieces
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 c. of yellow miso (available in vegetable stalls in wet markets and in the chilled section of most supermarkets)
about 250 g. of fresh tamarind
about 200 g. of mustard leaves
patis (fish sauce), to taste
about 3 tbsps. of vegetable cooking oil

Kanduli (catfish) with fish roe

You can have the kanduli cleaned and gutted by the fish monger and do the cutting at home or you can ask the fish monger to save you all the trouble by doing a complete job on the fish. I had mine cut in the market. If you’re lucky like me and your kanduli has fish roe, the soup will be even more wonderful. Just wash the kanduli and drain.

Mustard leaves

If the mustard leaves are rather large you can cut them into halves after trimming the root ends. Otherwise, just cut off the root ends and use the leaves whole.

Yellow miso

That’s what yellow miso looks like. You may want to read about different kinds of miso before deciding whether yellow miso is absolutely essential for cooking this soup or whether you can substitute another variety.

Boiling fresh tamarind

Wash and boil the tamarind in about two cups of water and extract the juice (see related entry on how to extract tamarind juice).

Sauteing garlic, onion and tomatoes

Heat the cooking oil in a pot and saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes.

Add the miso

When the garlic, onion and tomatoes start to soften, add the miso. Cook for a few minutes until the vegetables liquefy some more and the mixture turns a bit pasty.

Pour in the tamarind juice

Pour in the tamarind juice. Season with patis to balance the sourness. If you think you don’t have enough liquid, or if the broth is much too sour, dilute with water.

Add the fish

Add the fish. Bring to the boil. Lower the heat cover and simmer for about ten minutes.

Add the mustard leaves

Add the mustard leaves and simmer for another three minutes.

Sinigang na kanduli sa miso

Ladle the soup into your favorite soup tureen or serving bowl and serve at once.

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Comments

23 Responses to “Catfish and miso sour soup”
  1. phynkee says:

    Oh! This is my Father’s favorite fish dish, Sinigang na Kanduli sa Miso. Namiss ko tuloy sya. We usually add sigarilyas or winged beans, yummy! thanks for posting!

  2. Connie says:

    If only fresh kanduli were easier to find… Most kanduli in the market are frozen. Too risky, I think.

  3. Nhing says:

    Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipes, i now have variations when serving food to my family. Nga pala, hindi kasi ko marunong masyado pag dating sa fish, if I dont have kanduli, ano pwedeng substitute na fish na malasa din? Takot din ako bumili ng frozen fish sa mga Asian stores dito sa Melbourne.

  4. claudine charie says:

    i love catfish! though i’m the only one who will eat it. my american hubby said you’re going to eat that ewwwwwwwwww!!! these american are missing half of their life lol!

  5. peterb says:

    I’m not really a fish person due to the fact that i majorly suck at picking the bones. It’s more of fear, i guess. I just stick to fillets. :)

    That’s just me. But for my audience, my customers here at home, I’d gladly do this for them and I’m sure they would love this! You’re lucky to get find fish with roe, i haven’t seen any for a long time. I really like the aroma of sinigang sa miso. Great for cold weather and perfect for my cold. Love the photos!

  6. lara says:

    here in Rizal, there is an abundance of Kanduli in our wet market. We call their kinds as “isdang tabang” unlike the lapulapu and mayamaya kinds. It’s more affordable than bangus and tilapia but when cooked, almost always, may malansang after taste. Kaya my mom used to remove the head kasi sabi nang matatanda sa barrio, yun ang nagpapalansa sa lasa nia. And my mom adds ginger to minimize/ or completely remove the lansa. My parents love sinigang sa miso na kanduli! Thank you, ms connie for making this simple dish looks so sumptuous and tempting. By the way, i love the way kanduli is cooked the “daing”-style.=)

  7. anna says:

    hi miss connie,
    this is also our fave dish! we cook it the same way you too! we always use misong dilaw. in sta rosa laguna, my aunts also cook adobong kanduli sa gata (the sauce is yellow though, and i have yet to find out how to cook that). yeah, nakaka-miss ang kanduli, sa laguna lang ako nakakain ng ganun pag nauwi kami dun! nakakagutom! :)

  8. Connie says:

    Anna, adobong dilaw (popular in Taal) uses turmeric.

  9. misao says:

    my parents and parents-in-law, both, love this dish and my dad loves dinilawang adobo sa gata.

    i prefer lapu-lapu or maya-maya (steak cuts) in sinigang sa miso. but i love fish roe (of any fish) in sinigang. gives another depth to the dish.

    and our whole family loves any sinigang with finger chillis.

  10. Susan Cruz says:

    Hi Connie,
    My parents love kanduli very much esp. sinigang sa miso. I also love sinigang sa miso, but i use bangus, wow ang sarap, esp. yung may matabang tiyan.

  11. Lani says:

    hi connie, do you have recipes for grilled fish? i loooove seafood, where do you usually get fresh seafood? love your site!thanks :)

  12. Neposter says:

    I love this dish, but where I come from in Navotas, we have renamed it ginisang sinigang na kanduli sa miso, the only differences i remember was the the tomato, onion and garlic are sauteed first then the miso sauteed also when the onion is translucent and my Nanay uses the pickled mustasa instead of the fresh one, so the tart taste comes from the sampaloc and the mustasa preserve. also we added, labanos and small egg plants. wow ang sarap talaga! I live in boston now, and never recognized kanduli until my brother visited me from Florida and we were a at chinatown grocery and he spotted some live kanduli in the aquatium, they were being sold live, it looks like most american catfish are the kanduli type, there was also the ocean catfish,(Huge sea or ocean catfish) which they call alimusang in the southern Negros regions. They cook a mean sinigang na alimusang over there too, i used to live there too.

  13. Connie says:

    Neposter, ooohh I see. So American catfish is not hito? Great that they are sold live over there. Hito is sold live here but kanduli, rather rarely.

  14. Melacane says:

    Hi Ms. Connie,

    Is it okay if I share a recipe and maybe (only if you want to) you can try doing it at home and giving me a comment (good or bad)? i was told numerous times that it tasted really good 9I made up ther ecipe after an uninspiring New Year’s celebration)…
    If yes…tell me so, thank you.

    -Cane

  15. Connie says:

    Melacane, I love learning new recipes and I’d love to see yours. But I can only cook it if looks like something that my family will enjoy. :)

  16. mareza says:

    this is the same Batangas style of cooking fish minus the
    miso and minus the oil. i buy the dressed catfish para hindi
    malansa, if not and you have gout that is a killer.

  17. maila says:

    i just made this tonight and my friends loved it. thanks connie!!!!!!! :)

  18. emy M says:

    it’s easy to get the catfish…i have a thai friend who will give me tamarind…there’s a japanese market where i can buy miso…the other ingredients
    are in my fridge…one more thing..my camera!!!
    excellent detailed instructions with photos…i’ve
    never seen catfish roe…cool…how does it taste?
    thanks again

  19. Melacane says:

    Dear Connie,

    Hi, here’s the recipe…
    1 (small) pack Eden cheese, grated
    1 tetra pack Nestle all porpuse cream
    1 to 1/2 cup red wine (I use Maria Clara Sangria)
    1-2 white onion, finely chopped
    2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
    1 450g spaghetti
    2 cans Century Tuna Hot and Spicy
    2 spoons butter or 2 tbsp olive oil (you may use oil from the tuna)

    cook pasta as directed
    in another pan, prepare sauce. heat butter (or oil) then sautee white onions until translucent
    (you may use oil form the tuna…)
    add garlic, then add tuna cook for about 10 minutes
    add red wine leave it for about 10 minutes (brisk boil)
    add cheese until frothy or until sauce thickens
    lastly add cream
    (you may add salt and pepper if you want to)

    pour into prepared pasta then enjoy!

    Thanks,
    Melacane

    PS you may share this with your readers…if you can cook it (or if your family will like it) I’d appreciate a comment..hehehe..
    happy week end

  20. Pritong Kandule says:

    You can also fry the kanduli first so it wont have the malansang lasa.

  21. Pritong Kandule says:

    There is also Dalag which is also a catfish

  22. Connie says:

    Pritong Kandule, dalag is mudfish.

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