Chả Cá Lã Vọng - Hanoi Turmeric Fish with Dill

Chả Cá Lã Vọng - Hanoi Turmeric Fish with Dill © kvalifood.com

Chả cá Lã Vọng is one of Hanoi’s most famous dishes. Chunks of fish are marinated in turmeric and galangal, deep-fried, then finished in a hot pan with spring onion and dill at the table. It is eaten with rice vermicelli, roasted peanuts, and a dipping sauce. A whole street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is named after the dish.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Fish

  • 700 g white fish (tilapia, catfish, basa, carp, or cod)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp coconut cream
  • 2 tbsp fresh galangal, peeled and ground to a paste
  • 2 tbsp fresh turmeric, peeled and ground to a paste (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
  • 2 tbsp fermented rice (mẻ, or rice wine)
  • 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil

Accompaniments

  • 1 bunch spring onions, cut into 7 cm pieces
  • 1 bunch dill, cut into 7 cm pieces
  • 1 onion (white or purple), cut into wedges, optional
  • assorted herbs (perilla, mint, etc.), optional
  • 400 g fresh rice vermicelli
  • 100 g roasted peanuts, roughly crushed

Dipping sauce

  • 60 ml fish sauce
  • 120 ml lime juice (or kumquat juice)
  • 180 ml honey (or sugar syrup)
  • 600 ml water
  • 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp red chili, finely chopped

Shrimp paste sauce (optional)

  • 2 tbsp fermented shrimp paste (mắm tôm)
  • 1 tbsp pineapple, minced
  • 1 tsp lemongrass, minced
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger, minced
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/2 tbsp lime juice

Directions

Marinate the fish

  1. Wear gloves when handling turmeric - it stains. Peel and pound the galangal and turmeric together in a mortar to a smooth paste. Leftover fresh turmeric and galangal can be frozen.
  2. Mix the paste with the fish sauce, oyster sauce, coconut cream, fermented rice, and oil. Cut the fish into chunks about 7 cm x 3 cm and coat thoroughly in the marinade. Leave for 10-15 minutes.

Make the sauces

  1. Make the dipping sauce: combine fish sauce, lime juice, honey, and water. Mix well. Add garlic and chili.
  2. If making the shrimp paste sauce: combine all ingredients and mix well. This sauce is optional but traditional.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat plenty of oil in a deep pan or wok. Deep-fry the marinated fish until lightly golden. Remove and drain.
  2. To finish: heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the fried fish, spring onion, dill, and onion wedges. Stir-fry quickly until the herbs are wilted and fragrant, about 1 minute.
  3. Serve the fish with the vermicelli, herbs, peanuts, and your choice of dipping sauce.

Notes

  • The traditional serving is with shrimp paste sauce (mắm tôm), which has a strong, fermented flavour. Fish sauce-based nước chấm is a milder alternative.
  • Fresh turmeric gives a better colour and flavour than ground, but ground works if fresh is unavailable.
  • The final stir-fry step is traditionally done at the table on a small burner.