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Active Time
1 hr
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Total Time
1 hr
Kia Ly Dickinson of Miami, Florida, writes: "This fragrant soup is so good you will be freaking out. It can be served hot or cold, with rice. The recipe is an ode to my homeland, Vietnam, and I'd like to share it with my new friends in America."
This recipe calls for fresh lemon verbena, but you can substitute 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass if lemon verbena is unavailable. Both ingredients are sold at specialty produce markets, but lemongrass is also sold at Asian markets and some supermarkets, so it may be easier to find. If using lemongrass, discard 1 or 2 outer leaves, then thinly slice lower 6 inches of stalk. Finely chop, then sauté along with chiles and garlic.
Ingredients
Makes 6 to 8 first-course servings
Step 1
Cut peel from pineapple in a thin layer and discard, then trim outer layer of pineapple, cutting just deep enough to remove eyes but allowing pineapple to remain intact, and transfer trimmings to a blender. Quarter pineapple lengthwise and cut out core, then coarsely chop core and transfer to blender. Purée with 2 cups water until smooth. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-quart glass measure, pressing hard on solids (discard solids), then add enough water to measure 8 cups pineapple broth.
Step 2
Cut remaining pineapple into 1/2-inch pieces and put in a bowl.
Step 3
Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Gently pound chicken 1/4 inch thick with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin. Cut chicken across the grain into 1/4-inch-wide strips and transfer to a bowl, then chill, covered.
Step 4
烧热2汤匙油在5 - 6-quart沉重的阿宝t over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté chiles and 2 tablespoons garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup fish sauce and boil until sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. (Fish sauce will be extremely pungent when first added but will have a mild flavor in soup.) Add pineapple broth and bring to a boil. Stir in pineapple pieces, mushrooms, tomatoes, bean sprouts, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. While soup simmers, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté remaining tablespoon garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add remaining 2 tablespoons fish sauce and simmer until sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Step 5
Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper and add to garlic mixture, then sauté, stirring, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
Step 6
*Available at Southeast Asian markets and some specialty produce markets.
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Reviews (41)
Back to TopC'mon Epicurious. You are my go to site for adventures in cooking, but it appears no one edits your recipes before posting. This one has fresh herbs that are not used and the chicken for the chicken and pineapple soup is never added in to the soup. I could taste the promise of a fine soup but was left wondering. Now I know to read the instructions very closely before deciding whether to risk expensive ingredients on your fabulous (but sometimes incomplete) recipes.
Bardohudson
Sand Lake, NY
1/26/2019
This is one of the best soups I've ever made. I will admit it was a lot of prep work but came together a fast. Couldn't see when to add herbs so I did close to the end and when ready to serve. I read the lemon verbena was the best, but I found the lemon grass had nice flavor. Be sure you remove the outer 1-2 layers first. Lastly is the chilie I used the little red one like in the Chili's Resturant couldn't find the other chili. I like the spice and I left only a few seeds This is defiantly one of my favorite soups of all time. Enjoy!
annemagnee
Los Gatos Ca
1/18/2016
I have to give this a thumbs down as written. I had about a million chunks of cooked out pineapple which didn't taste so good. I remember making a VIETNAMESE pineapple soup years ago which was stellar, I guess it wasn't this. Anyway, I fished out the pineapple and the soup looked a little thin so I added some bok Choy. The broth tasted OK. I added the herbs twice, during cooking and then fresh before serving, that helped. I also added some chicken broth and salt.
mkrpetdoc
New york
3/25/2015
This recipe is the reason I grow lemon verbena. Lemongrass is a decent sub, but lemon verbena is better. Pure heaven!
PaulaFein
Philadelphia, PA
8/10/2013
As others have said, instructions are a little vague, and some familiarity with Asian cooking is helpful. I've made this several times and it is always loved in this house. Subbed chili de Arbol and lemongrass this most recent try, added ginger and kumquat slices (using up stuff in the fridge.)
tomese
Louisville, KY
1/12/2013
Wonderful and tasty but lots of work. Great taste of Vietnamese cuisine. I made it with lemon grass and served it over normal white rice and me and my friends loved it.
gjc1544
5/6/2011
I made this soup using lemongrass. It is quite time consuming, but delicious. The directions for this recipe are poorly written and leave room for error. Being familiar with Asian cooking will help minimize disappointment in the finished product.
clayvd
Windsor, CA
1/11/2011
I was so hoping to like this recipe. It was alot of work and made a total mess of my kitchen, but it was really horrible. I would have given zero stars if that was an option! I love everything Asian and incorporated all the wonderful suggestions in other reviews, but nothing helped. I'm going to stick to pho when I want Vietnamese soup in the future.
Anonymous
Colts Neck, NJ
8/21/2010
Made this tonight for a book club meeting and all 20 people LOVED it!!(doubled the recipe) I did add fresh grated ginger and used chili garlic sauce as a substitute for the fresh red chilis. I also left out the oregano and salt. I used Jasmine rice....There wasn't a drop left. Will certainly make this again and again!
jewishnun
Utica
5/9/2010
This is ethereal. The pineapple I used wasn't very ripe so for the broth I used 1:1 pineapple juice and water. I chopped up the pineapple and put it in the soup. Definitely amazing.
Anonymous
Phoenix, AZ
4/4/2010
I just love recipes that combine weird ingredients in delicious ways. If you are in a cooking rut this will jolt your creative juices. This combo will appear again and again. Will use shrimp next time.
Anonymous
k
1/28/2010
Like previous review, did not know when to add herbs. Added them to the broth after adding all the other ingregients which tasted OK. My husband is not keen on spicy food, omitted the red chillies and added chilli garlic sauce to mine after it was served. Definitely will make this again and again.
newtonhill
Magnolia, TX
1/10/2010
This recipe was great. The one thing it needed to put it over the top, though, was tamarind. The pineapple sweetness was a bit too much. I boiled and soaked a big chunk of tamarind paste for about half an hour, squeezed out the liquid, tossed the solids and added the liquid to the soup. That made the difference between night and day. Thanks for a great recipe!
MarkJames23
West coast of Canada
12/4/2009
This was a great recipe; lots of layered flavors and warmth from the chiles. I added 12 ounces of homemade, long, asian wheat noodles. The noodles soaked up the liquid, and made this more of a dish, rather than a soup. I also used about 1 1/3 lbs of chicken, substituted prepared lemongrass for lemon verbena. In reference to the fresh herbs (mint, basil, lemongrass) the recipe did not indicate exact directions for use. So, I added lemongrass to the chicken while sauteing. I added sliced mint and basil just prior to serving. I would consider using canned pineapple to cut down on prep time if I make this again.
engagingdiscussions
Southern CA
7/20/2009
I did exactly as the recipe said, but I used Kafir leaves instead of basil, added chives and baby bok choy. I also cooked chicken in black sesame oil. This was YUMMY!!!!!
Anonymous
Palm Beach
2/22/2009
